Police said Saturday they found unused briquettes in a car rented in southwestern Japan by a 41-year-old man who is suspected of killing his three children, leading them to believe he may have originally been planning to commit a murder suicide.
According to the police, the man rented a car in Fukuoka city on Feb. 18 and was supposed to return it last Monday. However, it was discovered at a commercial facility in Miyazaki Prefecture on Thursday.
Burning charcoal in an enclosed space such as a room or car is a common method of suicide in Japan.
The findings came after the police discovered the bodies of his three children -- a nine-year-old boy in an apartment in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, and a three-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl in a hotel in in Kagoshima city.
The three children lived with the man in the apartment in which the eldest boy's body was found Thursday.
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On Friday night, investigators forced their way into a Kagoshima hotel room where the man and the two younger children had been staying since Wednesday, according to the police.
The father jumped from the fourth floor to the ground, sustaining injuries to his torso, the police said. No other details about his condition were immediately available.
In the hotel room, which is about 230 kilometers south of their home, the investigators found the bodies of the two children with visible wounds, along with a suicide note, the police said.
Earlier, police said an autopsy on the boy found dead Thursday was inconclusive as to the cause of death. He had been dead for about a week with no visible injuries to his body.
Emergency service in Japan: 119
If you are having suicidal thoughts, help is available.
For Japan, call Yorisoi Hotline at 0120279338 (toll-free). Press 2 after the recorded message for consultation in English, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Nepali, or Indonesian. The service in these languages is also available on Facebook messenger.
For those outside Japan, you can find a list of other resources here.
