Suspect Kaoru Kobayashi at a police station in Oji, Nara Prefecture, on Thursday

A newspaper delivery worker admits to a heinous crime against a 7-year-old girl.

NARA-A man twice accused of crimes against children was arrested Thursday in connection with the abduction-murder of a 7-year-old girl whose cellphone was used to send disturbing messages to her grieving parents.

Kaoru Kobayashi, a 36-year-old newspaper delivery worker of Sango, Nara Prefecture, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to molest.

Kobayashi had admitted to murdering the girl and abandoning her body, police said.

Murder charges are expected soon.

Kobayashi was questioned at a police station on Thursday morning before he was arrested at 2:25 p.m.

Police found the slain girl's cellphone, school bag, jumper and cloth bag at the suspect's one-room apartment where he lived alone. They also discovered pornographic cartoons.

His home is about 4 kilometers from where the girl's body was found early Nov. 18 near a roadside ditch in Heguri, Nara Prefecture.

Police said the girl was drowned and that they believe Kobayashi acted alone in the crime. Police said they do not know if Kobayashi had any previous connection with the victim or her family.

Officers at a news conference said the suspect has made no references to the family of the victim.

``We cannot forgive the killer who took away our daughter's life that should have been full of hopes and dreams,'' the parents said in a statement after Kobayashi's arrest. ``We feel he should be given a punishment more severe than death sentence.

``Even if the killer has been arrested, it doesn't mean that our daughter will come back. Our resentment has only increased.''

The elementary school girl disappeared on her way home from school on the afternoon of Nov. 17 in Nara, police said.

After talking to her mother on her cellphone around 1:40 p.m., the girl was expected to return to the school to watch her mother play volleyball.

However, the girl could not be reached after that phone call.

Two second-grade elementary school girls saw the girl get into a car driven by a man about 100 meters from her home around 2 p.m.

The girl's cellphone is known to have been used around 6:30 p.m. in Kawai, Nara Prefecture.

After a fruitless search for the girl, the mother's cellphone rang twice and disconnected at 7:55 p.m.

At 8:04 p.m., a text message saying ``I have your daughter'' was received on the mother's cellphone. A full length photo of the girl was attached.

A motorist driving by a quiet road found the girl's body just past midnight.

The girl's hair was wet, but her clothes were dry. Because there was no water in the ditch where her body was discovered, police determined she died when the killer held her face down in a bathtub or sink indoors and later disposed of the body.

The photo of the girl sent on Nov. 17 showed parts of a patterned white towel or a cushion and pale wallpaper and beige carpet.

But the horror did not end for the family.

On Dec. 14, messages and photos sent from the dead girl's cellphone reached the phones of her parents. One of the messages threatened the girl's 2-year-old sister.

The messages from the girl's cellphone helped to lead police to Kobayashi.

Investigators found that the Nov. 17 call to the mother's cellphone was made from the north side of JR Oji Station and the text message originated from around the Heguri town office in the prefecture.

The other calls were also made in the northwestern part of Nara Prefecture. Police deduced that the suspect lived in the area, or was at least familiar with the location.

Kobayashi lived and worked in that area. His name emerged through a close examination of cellphone records, police said.

Police said Kobayashi used a green Corolla II hatchback to abduct the girl. They have confiscated a green car of that model belonging to an acquaintance of Kobayashi.

Police said the acquaintance was likely unaware of Kobayashi's intentions, and was not a suspect in the case.

`We want the killer to be subjected to a punishment more severe than the death penalty.'STATEMENT FROM PARENTS OF SLAIN GIRL

Police plan to compare the DNA of the suspect with hair found on the girl's clothing.

About 120 investigators were put on the case.

``The slogan in our investigation was to `prevent the second and third crime,''' said Eiji Kuzumoto of the Nara prefectural police department's criminal investigation division. ``The entire prefectural police department united to investigate the case without rest.''

The parents of the girl said they hope Kobayashi's arrest will end their nightmare.

``We told our daughter that the criminal has been caught and that she should rest in peace,'' they said in the statement. ``We thank the police investigators from the bottom of our hearts for their earnest investigation.''

This is the third time Kobayashi has been accused of crimes against children.

In 1989, he was referred to prosecutors on suspicion of molesting girls in Osaka.

In 1991, Kobayashi was arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder a 5-year-old girl in Osaka's Sumiyoshi Ward. Police said Kobayashi planned to molest the girl, but he started choking her when she protested.

Sources who know Kobayashi said he was born in Sumiyoshi Ward in 1968. His mother died 26 years ago after giving birth to a third son.

The father ran a fuel store and raised the three brothers. Kobayashi was the eldest.

A 32-year-old man from Osaka who had played with Kobayashi as a child said, ``He was a leader among the neighborhood kids.''

But the mother of another former classmate described Kobayashi as strong-willed who sometimes bullied younger children.

Kobayashi was married at one time and often hopped from one job to another, mainly delivering newspapers. His latest job was with a delivery agent for the Mainichi Shimbun.

Kobayashi's father and grandmother live at the same family home in Osaka with the youngest brother. But Kobayashi seldom visited his family, neighbors said.

They added that the suspect was never seen in the neighborhood after his 1991 arrest for attempted murder.

Kazuo Yamasaki, a representative of the Mainichi Shimbun in Osaka, read a statement at a news conference after Kobayashi's arrest.

``We express our heartfelt condolence to the victim and her family on this occasion of the arrest of an employee of our agent in a contemptible crime.''

Yamasaki said Kobayashi started working for the Mainichi newspaper agent in July this year. He delivered morning and evening editions and collected fees from subscribers.

His delivery area did not include the home of the girl.

The Mainichi official said he had no idea if Kobayashi had a previous connection to the victim.

Mainichi Shimbun officials said Kobayashi was working on the day of his arrest.

He delivered the morning editions that carried a front page story that said a suspect in the Nara murder case would likely to be questioned by police.(IHT/Asahi: December 31,2004)