The area around the site of a murder in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, is seen cordoned off on Sept. 14, 2021. (Mainichi/Emi Izuchi)

       The area around the site of a murder in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, is seen marked off on Sept. 14, 2021. (Mainichi/Emi Izuchi)

       TOSU, Saga -- A university student was arrested Sept. 14 for allegedly killing an elderly woman by striking her in the head with a blunt instrument on Sept. 10 in this southwest Japan city.

       Saga Prefectural Police arrested Koshi Yamaguchi, 25, a city of Nagasaki resident, on suspicion of murder. Yamaguchi has reportedly partially denied the allegations, and was quoted saying, "I did think hitting her in the head with a hammer might kill her, but I didn't have a definite intention to kill her."

       Yamaguchi allegedly killed Chigusa Otsuka, 79, by hitting her in the head with a blunt instrument multiple times on the grounds of a private residence in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, at around 1 p.m. on Sept. 10.

       Yamaguchi turned himself in to Oita Prefectural Police's Oita Chuo Police Station at around 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 13, saying: "I hit a woman in the head with a hammer repeatedly. She might have died. I did a terrible thing." He reportedly had a metal hammer with him.

       Saga Prefectural Police said Otsuka was found collapsed on the grounds of a house next to her home. A nearby resident made an emergency call at around 1:10 p.m. on Sept. 10, and reported that a woman was collapsed and bleeding from her head. Otsuka had reportedly been weeding alone at the residence.

       (Japanese original by Shizuka Takebayashi and Emi Izuchi, Saga Bureau)

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