Reports: Japan police probe ex-bureaucrat attacks

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081118/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_bureaucrat_attacks;_ylt=Avqqx2tvgjLyBDW7HhjPC3oBxg8F

Tue Nov 18, 11:01 am ETTOKYO – Japanese police posted guards at the homes of former health ministry bureaucrats Tuesday after attacks on the families of ex-officials left two people dead and another wounded, reports said.

A former vice health minister and his wife were stabbed to death Tuesday in Saitama, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Tokyo, police said.

Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66, and his wife Michiko, 61, were found dead in their home with several stab wounds to their chests, a Saitama police spokesman said, on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.


Hours later, the wife of another former vice health minister was stabbed by a man at their home in Tokyo, Kyodo News agency and public broadcaster NHK reported.

The man had pretended to be a delivery man, and when the woman opened the door he stabbed her in the chest several times before running away, NHK said.

The woman's condition was not life threatening, NHK said, adding that her husband, Kenji Yoshihara, was not home at the time of the attack.

Officials at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department could not be reached for comment.

Following the attacks, police sent officers to guard the homes of former health ministry bureaucrats, Kyodo said.