Suspects in Sapporo ‘Headless Body Case’ to Undergo Mental Evaluation

From Jiji 

Text has been altered to redact the names of the accused

August 25 2023

HOKKAIDO  – A psychiatric examination will be performed on a 29-year-old woman and her parents, all suspected of murdering a man whose headless body was found in a hotel in Sapporo in July, sources said Friday. 

The Sapporo District Public Prosecutors Office in the capital of Hokkaido, northern Japan, obtained approval from Sapporo Summary Court on Thursday to examine whether the 29-year-old woman, her father, 59, and her mother, 60, are mentally competent to bear criminal responsibility, the investigative sources said.

The evaluation period will start on Monday and last until February 28th 2024 next year.

Lawyers for the parents filed a complaint against the approval with Sapporo District Court on Friday.

The head of the victim, a 62-year-old company employee, was found inside a bag kept in a container in the bathroom of the family’s home in Sapporo.