A week after the fatal stabbing of a female college student in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, police are struggling to understand what drove the self-confessed knife man, described by acquaintances as a "nice young man," to commit a brutal murder.
Shizuka Sato, 21, from Iruma, was walking home from her part-time job at a convenience store on the evening of Oct. 15. She was attacked from behind and stabbed so hard that in some places the knife's handle entered her body.
She was found with more than 30 stab wounds in her back, chest and abdomen. Police suspect the killer used a combat knife.