Man held over stabbing outside Ibaraki restaurant whose owner was later found dead

The Ibaraki Prefectural Police have arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly stabbing a woman he had been drinking with in the town of Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture, at a restaurant whose owner was later found dead.

Kotaro Uchiyama, a company worker from the city of Hitachi in the same prefecture, is suspected of stabbing the woman, a 41-year-old company employee from the city of Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture, in the left abdomen with pruning shears outside the restaurant at around 9:45 p.m. on Sunday.

The woman, who had gone to the restaurant with Uchiyama, does not have life-threatening injuries.

Police later discovered the 72-year-old owner of the restaurant, Setsuko Katori, lying face down near the establishment with injuries on her neck and back, and confirmed her death. She also had defensive wounds on her arms.

On Tuesday, police said that Katori had died from hemorrhagic shock caused by stab wounds and classified the case as a homicide.

Investigators believe that Uchiyama, who claims to not remember anything, is involved in both cases.

Uchiyama is believed to have been drinking at the restaurant with the injured woman and another woman in her 40s, who is also from Tochigi.

Police believe Katori might have gotten involved in a dispute with them.