Man arrested over murder of hotel employee in Chiba Prefecture

CHIBA — Police in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, have arrested a 47-year-old man on suspicion of killing a 56-year-old woman at a hotel.

According to police, Atsushi Egawa, a company employee, who was arrested on Wednesday, used to work at the hotel and was acquainted with the victim, Hitomi Saeki, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Saeki was found murdered at around 7:30 a.m. on Nov 1 by another employee arriving for work. The body was on the floor behind the check-in desk. Saeki's face was swollen and her neck had been slashed with what appeared to be a knife. Her wrists were tied.

Police said Saeki had been alone on night duty.

An automatic check-out machine in one room had been wrecked and a towel had been wrapped around a security camera in the lobby.

Police said Egawa is accused of killing Saeki between 11:50 p.m. on Oct 31 and around 7 a.m. on Nov 1. He is also suspected to stealing tens of thousands of yen from the hotel cash box.

Egawa surfaced as a suspect after an analysis of street surveillance camera footage showed him entering the hotel on Oct 31, police said, adding that he has admitted to killing Saeki.

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