A Sapporo doctor and his daughter were arrested Monday on suspicion of beheading a man and carrying the severed head out of a hotel in the northern Japan city earlier this month, local police said.
Police are trying to determine a motive, as well as the relationship between Osamu Tamura, 59, his daughter Runa, 29, and the victim, identified as 62-year-old Hitoshi Ura, who was found naked and headless in a hotel room bathroom on July 2.
The police believe Runa and Ura were acquainted but have declined to say whether the two suspects have pleaded guilty to the allegations.
Ura and another individual believed to be Runa checked into the hotel around 10:50 p.m. on July 1, with the other person leaving alone at about 2 a.m. the following day, according to the police.
Osamu, a psychiatrist at a hospital in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, is suspected to have dropped off and picked up the daughter at the hotel. The police believe that he did not enter the building.
An autopsy of the victim revealed that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock caused by blood loss from stab wounds, while Ura's head was cut off with a blade and taken from the scene.
The person who accompanied Ura was small, wearing light-colored women's clothing and a wide-brimmed hat when entering the hotel, but was dressed in black upon leaving, according to investigative sources.
Ura's body was discovered later on July 2 by a hotel worker who went to check the room after becoming suspicious when he had not checked out by the afternoon.
The incident occurred in the Susukino area of the city where many short-stay so-called "love hotels" are located.
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