A man suspected of killing two women last week at a nursing care facility in Saitama Prefecture where he previously worked has told investigators he ※entered the facility with the intent to kill,§ according to investigative sources.
Police searched the home of the suspect, 22-year-old Toya Kimura, in the city of Kumagaya on Saturday. While the suspect told police he held ※no grudge§ against the two victims, investigators believe he broke into the facility after forming an intent to kill.
Kimura has admitted to killing the two women and officers are analyzing items seized from him to determine a motive.
The incident occurred at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday. A night-shift worker discovered residents Toshiko Kobayashi, 89, on the fifth floor and Akiko Uei, 89, on the fourth floor, both collapsed in their rooms. Kimura was arrested Wednesday evening on suspicion of murder.
Although the victims suffered multiple stab wounds to the upper body, both deaths were determined to have been caused by asphyxiation due to neck compression, police said.
Kimura allegedly rode a bicycle about 23 kilometers from his home to the nursing home in the city of Tsurugashima for the attack, carrying with him a knife he had bought in advance, indicating premeditation, the sources said.
Kimura worked at the facility until July last year and is familiar with its staffing and layout, according to the police. He is suspected of using a passcode he knew to unlock the door and entered the facility during a period when only one night-shift patrol worker was on duty.
He also told investigators he avoided using the elevator. ※I thought it would look suspicious, so I took the stairs to the upper floors,§ he reportedly said.
Security footage showed him changing jackets before and after the incident. When he was detained near the facility after the attack, a bag he carried contained an item believed to have been used to strangle the victims. The bicycle he rode to the scene was also found nearby, police said.
More than 60 other residents of the facility were unharmed, they said.
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