Police arrested a civil engineer early Friday in connection with the slaying of a 65-year-old female bar owner in the town of Sugito, Saitama Prefecture, last month.
Eiki Sato, 45, from the town of Miyashiro in the prefecture, is suspected of punching and strangling Kazuko Makiuchi sometime between the night of May 10 and the morning of May 11 and robbing her of several thousand yen in cash, police said.
Sato had frequented the bar, according to the investigation.
Sato was quoted as saying he visited the bar shortly after 11 p.m. on May 10 and killed Makiuchi in a fit of rage when she chastised him after he told her his life story. He denied committing robbery, however, police said.