'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)
