Wooden sword used to murder hacked-up girl'
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Police have confiscated a wooden sword they believe was used in the
murder of a 20-year-old junior college student, sources said
Saturday.
The sword was taken from the Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, home of Yuki
Muto, the murdered woman's brother who was arrested over damaging
her body.
The police believe Muto, a 21-year-old cram school student, hid his
sister's murder from their parents by cleaning the blood from the
sword and using newspaper to cover the plastic bags in which the
body parts were found.
Muto, the second son of dentist Mamoru Muto, 62, reportedly told
the police he had used the sword to beat Azumi, who was washing her
face in the bathroom, several times from behind. He also reportedly
confessed to dismembering his sister.
Following the confession, the police found the wooden sword in his
room at his family home, the sources said.
Because there was no trace of blood on the weapon, the police
believe Muto cleaned it, just as he did the knife and saw he said
he used to dismember his sister's body.
As no trace of blood was found in the bathroom, where he said he
dismembered her body, he must have thoroughly cleaned the bathroom,
the sources said.
The three plastic bags in which he allegedly put the body parts
were covered with newspaper when his mother discovered them in a
closet, the sources said.
Muto, who told the police he was going to dump the bags after
returning from a school trip, was obviously trying to hide the
plastic bags and their contents from his family, the sources
said.
Muto allegedly assaulted his sister in the bathroom on the third
floor of their house about 3 p.m. on Dec. 30, hours before their
father returned home at about 11 p.m.
As their father said he had not noticed any bloodstains when he
came home, the police believe Muto made significant efforts to
cover up his actions, sources said.
(Jan. 7, 2007)
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A 20-year-old junior college student, who was found dismembered in
her house in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, had suggested to friends there
was "big trouble" in her family a few days before she was killed,
according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Yuki Muto, a 21-year-old cram school student, was arrested Thursday
on suspicion of mutilating the body of his sister Azumi Muto, and
the police suspect the trouble Azumi spoke of led Yuki to kill her
after the rest of the family went out on Dec. 30.
Azumi lived with her father, mother and two brothers--Yuki and a
23-year-old university student.
Azumi allegedly told her friends a few days before the murder that
there was a major problem in the family, and that she was going to
ask her friends for advice.
The police suspect the problem was caused by something Azumi said,
but they have not been able to confirm the details of the situation
because her parents and the other brother have not answered police
questions citing shock.
While Yuki was quoted by the police as saying he killed Azumi
because she had accused him of "having no ambition," the police
will ask the rest of the family about the general family situation
leading up to the killing, believing the problem Azumi spoke of is
tied to the motive for the murder.
Doctors who performed the judicial autopsy, meanwhile, are said to
have been surprised at how efficiently Azumi's body was
dismembered. Her body was severed at major joints, including those
of the neck, shoulders and hips.
Yuki used technical terminology when explaining to the police how
he cut up the body. The police, however, have not found any unusual
books or videos in his room. They suspect Yuki cut Azumi's body
into more than 10 parts to make it easier to dispose of.
(Jan. 8, 2007)