The man who allegedly stabbed eight children to death in an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, on Friday had a host of personal problems and was due to be at the Osaka prosecutors' office the same day in connection with another assault case, investigative sources said Saturday.
Mamoru Takuma, 37, reportedly told police he had been suffering from insomnia recently, while sources said he was also experiencing problems with his former wife.
According to the sources, Takuma was ordered to present himself at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office at 2 p.m. Friday in connection with a fight at an Osaka hotel last October in which Takuma, then working as a tax driver, allegedly assaulted a hotel employee.
The papers on the case were sent to the prosecutors in April. Investigators are looking into whether these problems were connected with Friday's attack, the sources said.