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An 83-year-old man and his 82-year-old wife were found dead at their home in Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, Saturday, in what police believe was a murder suicide.
According to police, the bodies of Tamotsu Ikawa and his wife Masako were found at around 5 p.m. by firefighters, Fuji TV reported. Police said Masako had been strangled to death with a thin cord and her husband had died after apparently swallowing an agricultural chemical. Masako was found in her first-floor bedroom, while her husband lay in the next room. A container of the chemical was near the entrance to his room.
Police said Masako, who suffered from dementia, had been bedridden for several years. No note was found but police believe Ikawa killed his wife and then himself.
A caregiver visited the home at 4:45 p.m. but when she saw bento (boxed meals) that were regularly delivered to the couple, piled up outside the door, she became concerned and called the couple’s daughter who lives nearby. The daughter called 119.
© Japan Today
10 Comments
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tjguy
OK, that's being a bit too judgmental. Even some couples in the US sleep in different rooms yet have a good marriage. Plus, this lady had dementia. Who knows whether she might have made noise at night. Criticizing them for only speaking to each other once a month when you know nothing of the circumstances is just being plain old judgmental.
Cameron Lett
What's even worse is that the bento delivery company didn't think anything was up, even though the meals weren't being eaten. They simply kept delivering meals. ,
Hercolobus
Sad.
koujuke39
This is a very sad story. I imagine they loved each other very much. His wife was bedridden with dementia for several years and he was caring for her. Maybe she no longer knew him due to the dementia. Try to imagine that. He is very old and tired. He must have been very sad for her.
GW
This is the future for far far too many in Japan,.....
Reese
I look at my mother at 82 and fighting lung cancer and yes sometimes I'm short tempered. Basically no help from my brother and some help from my sister but I could never do what that man did. I'm not passing judgement on him. Just a difficult situation for him and his wife at their age and fraility and I think he just finally gave up. Definitely say a prayer tonight for the both of them.
Kobe White Bar Owner
To kill your life partner and the mother of your child then yourself via ingesting a chemical, he must have really been at the end of his tether. Poor old fella, just before new year as well. Bit of compassion please people.
Macoleco
Another murder among family members. Why is this so frequent in Japan? I definitely understand the husband being tired of taking care of her, but still this happens even among younger relatives.
WA4TKG
I have a friend that cared for BOTH his parents, until they passed away (In USA).
He never worked after he started doing that. Both died of natural causes.
My uncle knew a couple that passed by UN-Natural causes. The way he said it explained the scene...its a good thing he was a WWII Combat Veteran....
Do the hustle
So, they lived in separate rooms. That’s pretty normal for a Japanese marriage. They probably only spoke to each other once a month or so.