A man arrested on suspicion of stabbing to death an 11-year-old boy in Wakayama Prefecture this month has begun hinting at his culpability during questioning, investigative sources said Saturday.
Oshu Nakamura, 22, who is being held for allegedly murdering Toshi Morita on Feb. 5 in a vacant lot in the city of Kinokawa, had initially denied involvement or even knowing the victim and claimed he was at home watching TV at the time, according to local police.
Investigators are carefully examining the suspect's accounts, however, as he has at times behaved oddly while in custody. During questioning, for instance, he climbed up on a desk and stood there for roughly an hour on one occasion, and at other times he has muttered incoherently, the police said.
Nakamura and Morita lived less than 100 meters apart. The police said they found three knives with blades roughly 40 cm in length at Nakamura's home, one of which had a small amount of blood on it with Morita's DNA. A bloodstain on a shoebox in the suspect's home also returned a positive DNA match.