Police in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, have arrested a 65-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of fatally stabbing a 57-year-old woman with whom he was in a relationship.

According to police, Masami Mizuno has admitted to stabbing Megumi Nakamura, a part-time worker who lives in Osaka, sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. at his apartment on Wednesday, Fuji TV reported. Police said the couple did not live together and that Nakamura had been visiting Mizuno.

Police said Mizuno called 119, saying his girlfriend had been stabbed by someone on the street. Police said the victim, who had several knife wounds in her back, was taken to hospital where she died about three hours later.

Mizuno initially told police that Nakamura was already wounded when she arrived at his apartment but admitted to stabbing her after police found a blood-stained knife in his apartment.