Woman stabbed to death by ex-boyfriend in convenience store in Shizuoka

Breaks my heart that it appears she didn't call the police, and it was most likely because they didn't seem to take the threat seriously. I hope the brave clerk to tried to help can recover from this trauma as well.

Police had spoken to his parents

The guy is in his 40s and was abusing his partner, not 7 and scrumping apples.

Police had spoken to his parents as well and concluded that there was “no emergency threat” due to the fact that the two parties had also involved a lawyer in their negotiations.

Probably more of a reason that they should be more concerned since a 40 year old man needed to have "mommy & daddy" involved in his business, tells me that he may not have all of the pieces of the maturity puzzle in one place and he may need to be watched. Wish he would have started off by stabbing himself first instead of this poor woman.

Insert names, places and dates, repeat article.

[The victim had consulted authorities a total of four times about her relationship with her then-boyfriend...]

Good to hear that the authorities were on to it.

[(The) 32-year-old woman was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend early Tuesday morning in a convenience store...]

What more can be said...

So basically, getting parents and a lawyer involved is enough to 'smooth' everything over. And Japan is a safe country...?

I wish he would have locked the door too. Very sad. Some real crazy men/boys out there.

I wish he would have locked the door too.

I bet he does too.

Very sad story.

Police had spoken to his parents as well and concluded that there was “no emergency threat” due to the fact that the two parties had also involved a lawyer in their negotiations

they concluded wrong.

At the end of the day, the officers were able to fill in their dead time by doing a bunch of paperwork then they will be able to retire with a fat retirement/pension.

The guy tried to off himself so he would love the death penalty. Give him life though I expect much less.

Wow, that is extremely tragic.. She even tried to get away but unsuccessful in the end. Grim reading for any women out there with questionable BFs or ex's..

I feel for the clerk as well, surely he must be going through some extreme trauma over this incident

So sad but totally agree with @Disillusioned! Police is still "carebear" by ignoring alerts like in so many cases since decades.

Murder is an extreme case but domestic violence seems to be very very common here.

It never bloody ends, does it? Pathetic, infantile, insecore bloody "men" who can't handle rejection. When are the damned authorities going to really deal with protecting women from men?

I feel terrible for the convenience store clerk, as well. Poor guy (or woman - the article doesn't specify gender) is just trying to get through a late-night shift, and is suddenly in the middle of a deadly attack. He's going to be emotionally scarred for a long time. Hope he doesn't blame himself for not stopping it...no one could be prepared to face something like that. What a tragic story.

What exactly are the police supposed to do in this instance? People say they did not do enough, but what else could they have done according to the law? The police can not put a person in prison for something they have not done. They can not hold them unless they are suspected of committing a crime.

The only crime this guy has apparently committed is stalking and now murder. But detaining somebody because they might commit a crime without hard evidence sets a dangerous precedent.

I want to stress that it is a horrible crime and more needs to be done to prevent people who are being stalked, but sometimes I think we expect too much from the police.

The police can not put a person in prison for something they have not done. They can not hold them unless they are suspected of committing a crime.

The victim had consulted authorities a total of four times about her relationship with her then-boyfriend, once because he wouldn’t leave her apartment, Fuji TV reported.

If you are in someone else's apartment and refusing to leave, I'm pretty sure its a crime.

When will the stupidity stop? I'm waiting for the day that we'll never hear this kind of news again. Ending a relationship doesn't mean lives have to end too. Stupid manbaby.

beowulf: What exactly are the police supposed to do in this instance? People say they did not do enough, but what else could they have done according to the law?

I'm no legal expert, and we don't have a lot of details about everything that went on in the past from this article, but it seems there are definitely options that weren't explored. There are laws against stalking, intimidation, threatening, etc. that rarely get used. The article mentions that the woman called the police once when the man wouldn't leave her apartment - a trespassing arrest would've been a start.

This article is about stalking (not sure just how well that matches up with the above case, but it's got similar themes) that both outlines some of the struggles the police have with enforcing laws, and also some stats about how underutilized some of the protective laws are: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/31/national/media-national/anti-stalking-laws-are-a-dead-end/

It seems to me that the police's big problem is that their first step is often too soft. We've got a crazy 40-year-old man, but we'd rather sit down and chat with his parents over tea and make a nice, understanding relationship with them, rather than arresting the guy for harassment, stalking, or trespassing. Would taking legal action against him for minor charges prevent him from doing what he did? Not necessarily, but it might've scared him off, put him in jail for a year to give him time to cool down, or at least give the poor girl a sense that the police ARE able to help her, so that she'd call them when she needed help, rather than trying to deal with it herself ("But the police said everything would be OK!!") until it's too late and having to seek the help of a conbini staff member instead. It seems the police are too scared of being too bold at the first small transgression....don't make waves, don't make waves...

“no emergency threat” Right. Another victim of entrenched police attitudes toward women who report domestic violence and physical abuse. Why are the police never held accountable or reprimanded in such cases - would that lead to some kind of a breakdown in the social order, like giving women equal protection under the law?

He is in his 40's and the police spoke to his parents. Does he still live with them or something?

pathetic police. throws people into jails for smoking a joint but fails to prevent a homicide, FOUR times. "The police spoke with his parents". Are you serious?????

RIP, young lady. They should have let that POSex-boyfriend die on theway to the hospital.

Failure of the justice system.

"The victim had consulted authorities a total of four times"

Really.... unbelievable made in Japan

I don't think the police could have done anything to prevent it.

The police officers in charge of this case need to be seriously examined as to whether they are capable of doing their jobs. Poor girl. A life wasted.

The way these guys handle rejection... I'm wondering if they are treating it as an afront to their manhood? Or they were pycho to begin with. Really feel for the poor woman's family... she didn't deserve that, no-one does.

The police need to be dragged over the coals for this - if someone says they are being stalked or have intruders ACT! Japan seems (from JT reports) to be awash with stalkers and bonkers ex lovers... you would HOPE that they would have a taskforce for this.

The suspect, who had three knives on him,

Three knives on him! Um, the suspect apparently had his strong determination to kill her at any cost. It's literally like there is a thin line between love and hate. Nevertheless, I'm awfully sorry about the worst outcome. RIP.

She went to the police four times and yet still nothing was done? What was it going to take for them to take her seriously?

I know this is 20/20 hindsight, but if a woman came into my store being chased by a guy with a knife, I'd hide her in the store office since it's got a lock on it (most likely).

I don't think having her crouch under the counter was going to be much help unless the clerk was willing to fight the guy.

@Aly RustomOCT. 05, 2016 - 12:44PM JST

If you are in someone else's apartment and refusing to leave, I'm pretty sure its a crime.

http://breaking-news.jp/2016/10/04/027740 https://more-news.jp/article/detail/2315

Quickly scanning through some Japanese articles, it seems the man owns a substantial percentage of the furnishings in the flat - which probably gives him a valid claim that though he hasn't been living there for a bit, the flat is his residence and thus it is a non-crime for him to refuse to leave.

Further, it seems that the woman contacted the police to say that she didn't need their help since she's managing it through a lawyer.

Japanese guys often say, "Ore no kanojo" like literally they believe she is their possession.

Sorry, but how is that any different from "my girlfriend"?

I call Mr cleo "my husband", but that doesn't mean I think he's a possession.

"Ore no Kanono."

No, can't imagine it. Why specify "ore no", when just "kanojo" does exactly the same job?

Having tough stalking law won't help when they are prepared to die after killing the female, it means they don't care about life anymore. The government needs to provide shelters with support for women in domestic violence relationship and single women with stalkers to escape to and start a new life because these guys don't give up. I know a guy who smashed his ex-girfriends apartment up and waited for her to return and he split with her 12 months before, and again the parents jumped in and told the police they would handle it so it didn't hit the news.

@cleo It's the the intonation, the way they say it in a very possessive way. Let me ask you this why is it NOT possible for men to have female friends in Japan? All my female Japanese friends disappear once they have a boyfriend. When they breakup they contact me again. When I ask why they do this they say it's because their boyfriend would get jealous.

Poor lady! Wait......."Police had spoken to his parents as well". What?! C'mon!

Why did the kombini clerk not call the cops immediately? His job is not supposed to be bodyguard.