Japanese police have said that an elderly man who they had believed was killed by a bear had in fact been stabbed to death by his son.
Fujiyuki Shindo, 51, was arrested in the northern Akita prefecture on Tuesday for allegedly murdering his 93-year-old father Fujiyoshi, local media reports.
Police sent out a bear attack warning mail after the victim's wife found him collapsed and bleeding on the floor. But it was withdrawn after investigators concluded the wounds were more consistent with knife injuries.
Bear sightings are increasingly common in the northern Japan, where ageing populations and shrinking farmlands have meant the animals are expanding their habitat closer to human populations.
Mr Shindo, who lived with his parents, had initially told police that he did not notice anything unusual at home during the time of the attack, agency Kyodo News reported.
