Overview

• Hyogo police say the 35-year-old told investigators he noticed Katayama Megumi on Aug. 18, judged her his “type,” tailed her, and checked her workplace.
• CCTV from Aug. 20 shows a man believed to be the suspect following the 24-year-old after she left work toward her apartment, where she was fatally stabbed in an elevator.
• Local reporting says footage captured a pursuit of roughly 4 kilometers over about 50 minutes as she traveled from her workplace to her building.
• Investigators say the suspect had taken summer leave and stayed at a nearby Kobe hotel from Aug. 17, with cameras also recording him following other women near the hotel.
• The suspect has admitted stabbing but says he is unsure he intended to kill, and police report no prior connection between him and the victim.