Suspect In Beheading Admits Two Other Attacks

As people throughout Japan pondered the shocking news that a 14-year-old boy had been arrested for the slaying and beheading of an even younger boy, reports Sunday linked the teenager to two previous attacks against children.

Japanese news organizations reported Sunday, apparently on the basis of a confidential police briefing, that the arrested teenager had confessed to attacking two girls, age 9 and 10, earlier this year. The 10-year-old died of stab wounds in the head and the other was seriously wounded.

The police said Saturday night that the boy has confessed to the killing last month of 11-year-old Jun Hase. Jun’s head was cut off and left on the front gate of a junior high school.