Japan | Man accused of killing ex-girlfriend tells court he used kitchen knife to ‘finish her off’

A 29-year-old man charged with stalking and murdering his 31-year-old ex-girlfriend in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Dec 31, 2025, told a court on Thursday that he first hit her with a hammer and then stabbed her with a kitchen knife because he "wanted to finish her off."

According to the indictment,Takumi Ouchi is accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend, Haruka Komatsumoto, by attaching a location-tracking tag to her car and subsequently killing her at her home between 5:20 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. on Dec 31.

During questioning on Thursday, Ouchi stated, "She had decided to end the relationship, but I still had feelings for her. After hitting her with a hammer, I didn't know if she was alive or dead, so I stabbed her with a kitchen knife to finish her off."

He further explained that he did so in an attempt to "ease his own feelings."

The victim, who was a nail artist, made an anonymous call to the Mito Police Station on Dec 27 seeking advice, but the police officer who took the call determined there was no urgency to respond to the case, judging from her calm tone on the phone and the fact that she wouldn't give her name.

However, the officer urged her to visit the police station. Komatsumoto simply said she would do so "later" but did not do so.

After the two ended their relationship in 2024, Ouchi tried to contact her, but she had blocked his phone number and his social media accounts, prompting him to try to locate her by asking an acquaintance, according to the police.

At the time of her murder, Komatsumoto was pregnant and living with her husband, who found her body when he returned home from work.

The verdict is scheduled to be handed down on Sept 30.

Source: Japan Today, Staff, September 18, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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