Photo/Illutration Murder suspect Toya Kimura is transferred from the Nishi-Iruma Police Station in Sakado, Saitama Prefecture, on Oct. 16. (Shun Tsunekawa)

TSURUGASHIMA, Saitama Prefecture—A usually quiet community here is reeling in shock after two elderly women were stabbed to death at a nursing home and a former care worker was taken into custody.

Saitama prefectural police on Oct. 15 arrested Toya Kimura, 22, on suspicion of murdering 89-year-old Toshiko Kobayashi at the Wakaba Nursing Home.

He has also indicated he was responsible for the death of the second victim, who was identified as 89-year-old Akiko Uei, police said.

The attacks occurred in the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 15.

The suspect, who had worked at the care facility until July last year, has reportedly admitted to murdering Kobayashi.

“There is no doubt that I stabbed and killed her,” police quoted him as saying.

Police have not determined the motive for the assault.

CRIME AND ARREST

According to police, only one staff member was on duty at the 64-resident facility when the attacks occurred.

The worker said he had confirmed that all rooms were normal around midnight.

But when he made the rounds at around 3:30 a.m., he discovered Kobayashi in her fifth-floor room, lying face-up on her bed and bleeding from the head.

After lifting her blanket and finding more blood on her upper body, he immediately called the facility manager.

Police said there were no signs that Kobayashi defended herself in the attack, indicating she was asleep when she was stabbed.

A subsequent check of other rooms found Uei bleeding and unresponsive on her bed on the fourth floor.

Security camera footage showed a suspicious individual leaving the scene, leading police to Kimura.

At around 8:40 a.m., officers questioned Kimura on a street about 250 meters from the facility.

Based on his statements, police located a bag in Tsurugashima containing a blood-stained blade believed to be the murder weapon.

A bicycle likely used by the suspect was also discovered.

Kimura was arrested at around 12:30 p.m.

Police said the suspect later explained, “I opened the entrance lock with the four-digit code and entered the building.”

The code had apparently not been changed since his employment ended at the nursing home.

Police said Kimura used an entrance for employees instead of the main front door, and wore a hood, mask and gloves, indicating the attack was premeditated.

Kimura was transferred to the Saitama District Public Prosecutors Office on the morning of Oct. 16.

COMMUNITY STUNNED

A woman in her 50s who lives near the Wakaba Nursing Home said she was awakened by ambulance sirens.

“I could see CPR being performed in a room on the fourth floor,” she recalled. “I knew it was something serious.”

Another woman, whose brother in his 80s is a resident there, rushed to the scene.

“It was frustrating that I couldn’t get through the police cordon to see him,” she said, adding that she had always considered the facility safe.

Visits to residents require an appointment, and the names of the guests are checked, she said.

The residents live in small rooms that can be locked from the inside.

“The residents and staff were always talking cordially, and I thought it was a nice, clean facility,” she said. “I don’t understand how something like this could have happened.”

News about the crime spread in the area in Kumagaya where Kimura’s two-story apartment is located.

A neighbor said Kimura kept to himself.

He said he can’t recall seeing the suspect ever interact with others, take out his trash or even leave for work.

“I don’t know him at all,” the man said.

(This article was compiled from reports written by Yota Kosaki, Hayato Honda, Shun Tsunekawa, Tomonori Asada and Minori Oshita.)

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