No. 004

&nbsp Archive item No. 004 is found by Akiko Kiyota, and is 29 hours before the 'Tragedy'

The National Times August 1, 2005 (Showa 80) Evening Edition Woman Beaten to Death, Roommate Sought for Questioning

Around 4pm August 1st,  Ryuko Tagawa  (18), a waitress, was found dead in her Shinjuku apartment. The victim was apparently struck in the head repeatedly with a blunt object. The manager of the restaurant where she worked went to her apartment to check on Tagawa when she failed to appear for her shift. There he discovered the victim lying in a pool of blood, beaten unrecognizably, along with a suspicious man, prompting the manager to call the police. When officers tried to detain the man for questioning, he escaped custody. The suspect has been identified as Soji Abe    (24) ...[omission]... who had been sharing an apartment with the victim for the past year. Neighbors say that the two were often heard fighting, and that their argument the night before the incident had been particularly noisy.