A 31-year-old worker at a special care facility for babies has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a colleague to death in her apartment in Tokyo last week, police have said.
Yusuke Matsuoka, 31, was identified as the man seen in security camera footage leaving the apartment in Suginami Ward where Tsugumi Terui, 32, was found on the floor with a knife in her back Tuesday, investigative sources said Saturday.
Matsuoka, who was sent to prosecutors Sunday, has denied the allegations, they said.
Matsuoka had several scratches on his neck and wrists when he was arrested.
As possible evidence, police removed a black coat from Matsuoka's home which resembled one worn by the man seen in the video footage, they said.
Investigations so far suggest the suspect and the victim had not been in an intimate relationship, the sources said.
Matsuoka is believed to have broken into Terui's apartment on the second floor of the two-story building after apparently climbing over the roof and dropping down to the balcony, according to the sources.
He is suspected of having heated and shattered a section of glass with a burner so that he could unlock the sliding windows on the balcony, a method often used by thieves, the sources said.
As they worked at the same facility, Matsuoka was in a position to know Terui's work schedule and could have broken into her apartment and waited until she came home after finishing a night shift, they said. Matsuoka had been working at the care facility for about six years.
Furniture in her room had been knocked over, police said earlier, indicating a struggle.
They received a call around noon last Tuesday from a neighbor who heard a woman calling for help in an apartment.
