Man Arrested after 3 People Found Dead in Saitama

Saitama, Dec. 25 (Jiji Press)--Local police arrested a 40-year-old unemployed man on Sunday after three people were found dead at a house in Hanno, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, earlier in the day.

At around 7:15 a.m. (10:15 p.m. Saturday GMT), the police received emergency calls saying that people were making a row at the house. Police officers rushed to the scene and found the three--a man and two women--lying in the premises of the house. An ambulance team later arrived there and confirmed that they were dead.

The police took the suspect, Jun Saito, a resident in the neighborhood, into custody in the evening and later arrested him on suspicion of attempting to murder the male victim. Saito is believed to be the one who was spotted fleeing the scene.

According to police sources, the victims are believed to be a couple in their 60s who lived in the house and their daughter in her 30s. The police are working to confirm the identity of the bodies, which had wounds apparently caused by a blunt object in their heads and necks.

Saito is refusing to respond to questioning by investigators, the sources said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]