With the investigation into the murder of two teenagers from Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, apparently making little headway, police are looking into links with that case and similar crimes the suspect was convicted of more than a decade ago.
Koji Yamada, 45, was arrested Aug. 21 on suspicion of abandoning the body of 13-year-old Natsumi Hirata, which was found Aug. 13 with more than 30 cuts and stab wounds.
Yamada was convicted of and served time for robbing and confining a total of seven junior high school male students in 2002.