By MOMOE HARANO/ Staff Writer
August 25, 2025 at 15:57 JST
KOBE—A man arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing a woman here has told police that he had no prior connection to the victim, according to investigative sources.
Masashi Tanimoto, 35, a delivery driver from Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, was arrested on suspicion of murder following the killing of Megumi Katayama, 24, an insurance company employee.
Katayama was found with multiple stab wounds in her upper body, lying in front of the elevator in her apartment building in Kobe’s Chuo Ward on the evening of Aug. 20.
Some of the injuries had penetrated her lungs.
Tanimoto told investigators that he didn’t know the victim at all.
Police have so far found no clear link between the suspect and the victim, and are working to verify his statements. The lack of connection is leading investigators to believe that Katayama was randomly targeted.
Tanimoto was apprehended in the western outskirts of Tokyo on Aug. 22 and transferred to the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office two days later.
According to police, the suspect admitted to stabbing the victim but said he was not sure whether he intended to kill her.
Security camera footage from the area showed that Katayama was followed by a man for nearly an hour on her way home from work before the attack.
Tanimoto, a former resident of Kobe, checked into a hotel near the crime scene three days before the incident.
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Masashi Tanimoto is transfered to the prosecutors office in Kobe’s Chuo Ward on Aug. 24. (Emiko Arimoto)
