The Hiroshima Prefectural Government's east building, which houses the Hiroshima Prefectural Police headquarters, is seen. (Mainichi/Misa Koyama)

       A man who was recently arrested on suspicion of stabbing a housewife to death in west Japan's Hiroshima Prefecture in 2001 has reportedly told police he was involved in the incident but denied that he intended to kill the woman, the Mainichi Shimbun learned from investigative sources.

       Kozo Takemori, 67, allegedly killed a 35-year-old housewife by stabbing her in the abdomen with a fruit knife with a blade measuring approximately 10 centimeters at her house in the city of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, at around 12:45 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2001.

       According to investigative sources, Takemori was arrested on Oct. 25 this year as his DNA matched bloodstains left at the scene other than the victim's -- leading to his apprehension over 20 years after the incident.

       Takemori had initially told police he "didn't remember" what happened and was denying the allegations, but he has begun making statements to the effect that he was involved in the incident. However, he has also told police that he "didn't intend to kill" the victim.

       At the time of the incident, the victim was found collapsed on the stairs of her home between the first and second floors, with a knife sticking out of her stomach. Adhesive tape was stuck to her mouth, and there were no signs that the house had been ransacked. As a personal seal of the woman's family was found near the entrance, prefectural police suspect that Takemori may have invaded the home after pretending to be a deliveryman.

       (Japanese original by Akihiro Nakajima and Kana Nemoto, Hiroshima Bureau, and Shinji Kanto, Fukuyama Bureau)

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