Police arrested a man Sunday on suspicion of breaking into a house in Iide, Yamagata Prefecture, early in the morning, killing a photo shop owner and his son and critically injuring his wife with a cutting tool.
Hironobu Ito, 24, was arrested after he was found in a nearby mountainous area. According to neighbors, the suspect, a distant relative of the family that was attacked, lives about 50 meters from the victims' home.
The photo shop owner, Nobuyoshi Ito, 60, and his 27-year-old son, Satoru, were taken to a hospital where they died of stab wounds, the police said. The owner's 54-year-old wife, Hideko, was in critical condition.