Osaka police refer deceased father, 47, to prosecutors over wife and son murders
In short
Osaka prefectural police said on Oct 5 they sent papers to prosecutors on a 47-year-old man, Junji Okuda, over the murders of his wife and 10-year-old son in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, in June. Police say Okuda stabbed his wife Aiko, 47, at the family home on June 5 and threw their son Ibuki from the 18th floor of a condominium before falling to his own death there. Police have not established a motive; Asahi and Nippon TV reported the company he ran had cash-flow problems.
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Osaka prefectural police said on Oct 5 that they sent papers to prosecutors on a 47-year-old man, Junji Okuda, on suspicion of murdering his wife and 10-year-old son in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, in June. The man, an architect who ran a company, died after falling from the same condominium building where his son was killed, and police referred the case with the suspect deceased. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
According to police, Okuda stabbed his wife Aiko, 47, in the neck and chest with a bladed weapon at the family home in Midorigaoka-cho on the afternoon of June 5. Asahi Shimbun says the stabbing was at about 3:10 pm; Sankei Shimbun says about 3:15 pm. Police say he then threw his son Ibuki, a fifth-grade elementary school pupil, from the 18th floor of a condominium in Miyamadai, about two kilometres from the home. Nippon TV reported that an autopsy found the wife died of hemorrhagic shock from stab wounds, one of which reached her heart, while the son died of blood loss after a vein at the back of his head ruptured, along with multiple fractures. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Sankei reported that at about 4:50 pm a 119 call from the condominium said a person had fallen; Nippon TV reported that at about 5 pm the building manager called 110 to report a fall. Police found the man and his son unconscious and both were confirmed dead at hospital, according to the reports. Nippon TV said officers went to the family home at about 7 pm and found the wife's body. The same outlet reported that security camera footage at the condominium showed the father and son holding hands in the elevator. [ 2 , 3 ]
Police have not established a motive. Asahi reported that no suicide note was found and that interviews with people close to the family indicated relations were good; Sankei reported that the three-person household had no record of seeking help over problems. Asahi and Nippon TV both reported information that the cash flow of the company Okuda ran had worsened, without linking it to the deaths. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Asahi placed the case in a national context, reporting that surveys from 2003 to 2025 confirmed 488 cases involving 679 people of abuse deaths in which children were caught up in a parent's suicide, and that a Child and Family Agency expert committee changed its terminology in September from murder-suicide abuse deaths to abuse deaths of children accompanied by a parent's suicide. Statistics the agency released in September recorded 19 such cases involving 27 children in fiscal 2024, including five children aged 0, 14 aged 1 to 5 and eight aged 6 or older, Asahi reported. [ 1 ]
Yahoo! News Japan carried a shortened version of the report, emphasising that the motive remained unclear and that the company's finances had not gone well, and surrounded it with unrelated news items. [ 4 ]
Why it matters
Asahi reported that the case falls into a category the government expert committee renamed in September — abuse deaths of children accompanied by a parent's suicide — and that 19 such cases involving 27 children were recorded in fiscal 2024, placing the Tondabayashi killings in a tracked national pattern. Police sent the case to prosecutors with the suspect already dead, so no trial of the man is expected.
Key facts
- Osaka prefectural police said on Oct 5 that they sent papers to prosecutors on Junji Okuda, 47, an architect who ran a company in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, on suspicion of murdering his wife and son. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Police say Okuda stabbed his wife Aiko, 47, in the neck and chest with a bladed weapon at the family home in Midorigaoka-cho, Tondabayashi, on June 5. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Police say he then threw his son Ibuki, 10, from the 18th floor of a condominium in Miyamadai, Tondabayashi. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Okuda died after falling from the same condominium, and police sent the case to prosecutors with the suspect deceased. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Nippon TV reported that autopsies found the wife died of hemorrhagic shock from stab wounds and the son of blood loss from a ruptured vein at the back of the head and multiple fractures. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Police have not established a motive; Asahi reported that no suicide note was found and that people close to the family said relations were good. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Asahi, Nippon TV and Yahoo! News Japan cited information that the finances of the company Okuda ran had worsened. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Asahi reported that government statistics released in September recorded 19 cases involving 27 children in fiscal 2024 of abuse deaths in which children were caught up in a parent's suicide. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Osaka prefectural police sent papers to prosecutors on Oct 5 against a 47-year-old man over the murders of his wife and 10-year-old son in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, in June. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The man died after falling from the same condominium where his son was thrown, and police concluded he killed his wife and son before taking his own life. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The wife was killed with a bladed weapon at the family home, and the son was thrown from the 18th floor of a condominium in Miyamadai. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Police said the motive has not been established, and outlets reported the family had been described as close and that the man's company had cash-flow difficulties. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- What led the man to kill his wife and son. Police have not established a motive; Asahi reported no suicide note was found, and Nippon TV said the motive remains unclear.
- The exact time the wife was killed. Asahi says about 3:10 pm; Sankei says about 3:15 pm.
- Which emergency report came first. Sankei says a 119 call at about 4:50 pm from the condominium reported that a person had fallen; Nippon TV says the building manager called 110 at about 5 pm about a fall.
- Whether the company's financial problems were connected to the killings. Asahi and Nippon TV reported the cash-flow difficulties as information from people close to the investigation, but police have not linked them to the deaths.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- The man stabs his wife in the neck and chest at the family home in Midorigaoka-cho, Tondabayashi, according to Asahi Shimbun. [ 1 ]
- Sankei Shimbun reports the wife was killed at home at about this time. [ 2 ]
- A 119 emergency call reports that a person has fallen at the condominium in Miyamadai, Tondabayashi, according to Sankei Shimbun. [ 2 ]
- The condominium manager calls 110 about a fall; police find the man and his son collapsed, and both are confirmed dead at hospital, Nippon TV reports. [ 3 ]
- Police officers visit the family home and find the wife's body, according to Nippon TV. [ 3 ]
- On Oct 5, Asahi Shimbun reports that Osaka prefectural police sent papers to prosecutors the same day. [ 1 ]