Police have seized around 20 blades, including four saws, from the home of a family arrested over the case of a decapitated body found at a Sapporo hotel room in July, investigative sources said Friday.
Runa Tamura, 29, and her parents were served fresh arrest warrants earlier this week on suspicion of killing a 62-year-old who lived in a city adjacent to Sapporo. The three were first arrested last month on allegations including abandoning a corpse.
The police believe that Runa was the only suspect at the hotel room and that the parents conspired with their daughter to commit the crime.
Lawyers for the parents on Friday released a statement denying "acting in collusion over murder and corpse abandonment in any way."
According to the sources, some of the confiscated blades were found in Runa's room.
The victim, Hitoshi Ura, is believed to have been killed at the hotel room in Sapporo's Susukino entertainment district, with multiple stab wounds found around his neck.
Ura checked into the hotel at around 10:50 p.m. on July 1 with an individual believed to be Runa. The individual was seen leaving the hotel with a suitcase at about 2 a.m. the following day, according to the police.
Ura's headless body was discovered on July 2 by a hotel worker, and the head was subsequently found in the bathroom of the Tamura residence.
Runa's father Osamu, a 59-year-old psychiatrist, has allegedly bought with his daughter items believed to have been used in the case, including a saw, knife and a suitcase.