26 July 2023 , 14:19
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The missing head of a decapitated man has been found three weeks after his body was discovered in a love hotel room. A Japanese woman and her parents have been arrested after police made the discovery and believe the pair purchased a saw and suitcases before the incident.
Detectives in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo are questioning Runa Tamura, 29, and her father Osamu Tamura, 59, in connection with the mysterious death of Hitoshi Ura earlier this month. They are being held on suspicion of conspiring to behead the victim at a hotel room and relocating his severed head in the middle of the night between July 1 and July 2. Runa’s mother Hiroko, 60, was arrested the next day on suspicion of conspiring in the plot to hide the head which was found at the Tamura family home.
Runa Tamura is pictured being transferred from a police station (AP)Hitoshi, 62, was found naked and decapitated on July 2 in a Sapporo love hotel — where couples can rent rooms by the hour. Footage from security cameras showed that he had entered the hotel at 10:50pm the night before his death with a woman. About three hours later the woman was seen leaving, carrying a large suitcase and wearing different clothes.
Hotel workers made the upsetting discovery the next day because no one had checked out of the room by the afternoon. The worker found the victim slumped in a bathtub, none of his belongings had been left in the room and the bed was unused, according to news reports. Examination of the body suggested his head was severed after death and that there were no signs of a struggle in the room.
An autopsy of his body found that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock. The police plan to conduct an autopsy of the head following its discovery.
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Osamu is the head of the psychiatric department at a general hospital in the city and on Monday, the director of the hospital said in a statement that hospital staff were completely shocked by the incident and are willing to co-operate with the police investigation.
An elderly neighbour told the Yomiuri newspaper: "[Osamu was] a very calm and warm person, and he always said hello. He seemed to get on well with his wife and I never thought he was the type of person who would carry out such a crime."
An unnamed medical colleague was also quoted in the Sankei newspaper saying: "He [Osamu] was a serious and dedicated doctor. He takes part in social activities and always takes the side of vulnerable people, such as those who had got into debt."
The motives of Runa, as well as her parents, remain unknown.