The suspect in the fatal stabbing of an 11-year-old boy in Wakayama Prefecture has allegedly told police that he decided to assault the boy after the child poked fun at him, according to his defense lawyer.
Oshu Nakamura, 22, admitted to assaulting fifth-grader Toshi Morita on the evening of Feb. 5 after feeling that the boy had poked fun at him earlier in the day, lawyer Mikio Fujii told Kyodo News on Sunday.
Nakamura said he was being ridiculed while exercising with dumbbells by his house, the lawyer said. The suspect also told police he had long suffered ridicule by Morita and the victim's brother.
Nakamura, who was arrested on Feb. 7, told police that he bought the knife used in the fatal assault online while working as a part-time security guard, and washed it after the crime, according to the lawyer.
While the suspect has admitted that he committed the crime, he has expressed no remorse over his actions, the lawyer said.
Nakamura initially denied knowing the victim, and claimed that he was watching TV at home at the time of the crime. But he began hinting at his involvement as police questioning proceeded and admitted that he knew Morita before the killing, investigative sources said.
Nakamura is suspected of fatally stabbing Morita in a vacant lot near his home. He lives less than 100 meters from the home of the murdered boy.
The police said they found three knives with blades roughly 40 cm in length at Nakamura's home, one of which had a small amount of blood on it matching Morita's DNA. A bloodstain on a shoebox in the home also matched the boy's DNA.