Man, 55, wanted in flophouse murder nabbed in Setagaya

Mar 16, 2021 | News On Japan

Mar 16, 2021 (tokyoreporter.com) - Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 55-year-old man who is suspected in the fatal stabbing of a male guest at a flophouse in Taito Ward on Saturday, reports TBS News

On Sunday, police working off a tip apprehended Eiji Watabe, of no known occupation, in Setagaya Ward. Upon his arrest on suspicion of murder, he admitted to the allegations, the Asakusa Police Station said.

The suspect is alleged to have fatally stabbed 28-year-old Wataru Ogiwara, also of no known occupation, at the lodging facility in the Kiyokawa area of Taito at around 6:00 a.m. on Saturday.

“He said, ‘Your footsteps are too noisy.’ So I thought I would approach his room with a knife to settle the matter,” Watabe told police.

Ogiwara started staying in a room of the flophouse on the second floor in October. Watabe had been in a separate room on the same floor since December.

Police arriving at the scene on Saturday morning found Ogiwara collapsed in a corridor with stab wounds to the abdomen and back. He was later confirmed dead at a hospital.

A knife soaked in blood that is believed to have been used in the crime was found dropped in Watabe’s room, police said previously.

An examination of security camera footage showed Watabe leaving the scene shortly after the emergence of the incident.

Police later sought the help of the public in locating the suspect.

At just after 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, a person at a separate facility in Setagaya alerted police about “a person resembling” the suspect.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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