Stalker hid in closet at girl's home before killing her

TOKYO — More details emerged Thursday about the murder of an 18-year-old school girl who was fatally stabbed in Mitaka, Tokyo, on Tuesday night, allegedly by an ex-boyfriend who was stalking her. Charles Thomas Ikenaga, 21, who is from Kyoto, has been charged with the murder of Saaya Suzuki, whom he met on Facebook two years ago. The couple dated until about a year ago. Suzuki first asked her school principal for advice on Oct 4 after she received email death threats from Ikenaga. The principal advised her to contact the police. Suzuki and her parents visited police at around 9 a.m. Tuesday to report that Ikenaga had loitered outside their home several times and turned up at places where she used to go, after she started blocking his emails and phone calls on her cell phone in June.

The police officer who spoke with them called Ikenaga’s cell phone three times Tuesday, but his calls were not answered, police said. NHK reported Thursday that during police questioning, Ikenaga said that he climbed up the outside of Suzuki’s house on Tuesday afternoon and hid in a downstairs closet for about two hours. Suzuki returned home at around 4:30 p.m., at which time a police officer called her to see if she had got home safely. She said she was OK and they spoke for about 20 minutes. Ikenaga told police he emerged from the closet after the phone call and stabbed Suzuki twice in the stomach and arm near the front door, NHK reported. When Suzuki ran outside, Ikenaga chased her and jumped on top of her, stabbing her in the neck. A witness saw him flee the scene. Suzuki was taken to hospital where she died a short time later due to loss of blood, police said. Ikenaga was arrested nearby 90 minutes later. He admitted buying a knife with the intention of killing Suzuki because she wouldn’t get back together with him, police said.

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