62-year-old stalker arrested over arson-murder in Tottori

Police in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture, said Wednesday they have arrested a 62-year-old man over the death of a 72-year-old woman who died in a fire at her home on Jan 2. Police said the suspect had been warned about stalking the victim.

According to police, the remains of Yoshie Sumi were found in the ruins of the burned down house. NTV reported that on Tuesday, Shuichi Izumi appeared at a police station in Osaka and confessed to killing the woman and setting fire to the house.

Police quoted Izumi as saying he went to the woman's house at around 5 p.m. on Jan 1 and attacked her. An autopsy showed that the victim had been beaten about the body and that she had died of suffocation after having her nose and mouth covered.

During the time of the attack, police said Sumi's husband, Kiyomi, was working at the local welfare office. Police said that Izumi, who used to work at the welfare office, knew of Kiyomi and potentially knew that he would not be home, leaving his wife alone in the house.

Police said that the victim had consulted police nine times between November 2012 and July 2013, complaining about getting silent phone calls and about Izumi hanging around near the house. Police said they increased patrols near the house from January to July last year and issued Izumi a verbal warning to stay away. There were no further requests from Sumi after that.

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