Japan ‘bear attack’ victim was murdered, son arrested

Japanese authorities arrested the son of an elderly man on murder charges after originally believing he was fatally mauled during a bear attack, according to reports and authorities.

Fujiyosh Shindo, 93, was discovered collapsed and bleeding by his wife inside their home in the northern Akita prefecture on Monday — originally alarming police into thinking a bear had wounded him, BBC reported.

In a twist, cops arrested Fujiyuki Shindo, 51, on Wednesday for allegedly murdering his father, the outlet reported.

The bear attack theory was withdrawn when authorities recognized Fujiyosh Shindo’s wounds were more consistent with knife injuries, the outlet said.

Cops had immediately sent out bear attack warning mail to residents in the northern Japan area, where shrinking farmland and an aging population have allowed bears to encroach into areas populated by humans, local outlets reported.

A whopping 219 people were attacked by bears in the year before March 2024, resulting in six deaths, according to Japan’s Environment Ministry.

Shindo initially told police that he did not notice anything unusual at the family home, where he also resided, during the time of the “bear attack” on his father, Kyodo News reported.

He is believed to have used a knife to slash his father’s face and back, the outlet said.

The nonagenarian was taken to a hospital and was later confirmed to be deceased.

Investigators seized multiple knives from the home as they tried to identify a murder weapon, local outlets said.

No motive has been identified in the alleged murder, police added.

The incident remains under investigation.