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Japanese teen 'axe murderer’ also poisoned classmate

Tokyo - A 19-year-old Japanese university student arrested on suspicion of killing a 77-year-old woman confessed she had poisoned a former high school classmate, a report said on Thursday.

Suspicious chemicals were detected at the apartment of the unnamed student in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture, where the body of the elderly victim, Tomoko Mori, was found on Tuesday, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing investigative sources.

The suspect is accused of having strangled Mori with a scarf at her room on 7 December after hitting the woman with an axe.

At a high school in Miyagi prefecture formerly attended by the suspect, one of her classmates said she felt ill and had loss of vision, Kyodo said.

The student went in and out of hospital and temporarily stopped attending school, it added.

The report said that the person believed to be the suspect had tweeted that she bought thallium, a highly toxic substance, leading to police to investigate whether it was among the substances seized at her room.

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