From what I remember the killer’s blood was also found on the towel in the toilet room, which he wiped his hands on after defecating.
You would naturally think that if your hand/hands had been sliced open by a knife you would attempt to tend to the wound as soon as possible… which, in the timeline of events, would be right after Yasuko and Niina were killed.
I wonder if he was having trouble stemming the bleeding and the wounds were continuing to bleed for a while after, which is why his blood was found in various places…
But then I also wonder, wasn’t it said he was carrying around drawers and documents and throwing them around the place? If he did so, would that indicate his wounds weren’t that bad as he still had strength in his hands to carry things around the house?
From previous posts about this I remember that his gloves were slashed up quite badly and there was his blood all over them…
Does losing a lot of blood necessarily mean the wound is worse or just that he managed to nick an artery…?
Well, I am not a surgeon, so it is not a specialist’s opinion. However, I had several klutzy wounds in life. In answer to your question, both could be true. We are discussing different kinds of wounds, though, “deep piercing” if an artery vs “cutting” a vein. IMO, “a bloodied scene” and “losing a lot of blood” are not necessarily equal things. “A lot”, physiologically, means more than natural blood reservoirs - mostly, spleen and liver - can rapidly replenish. If he was unlucky enough to lose 750 ml rapidly, he’d be in stage I hemorrhagic shock. But it is survivable, and one has to really try his hardest to lose that much. I assume he lost less.
Do people think that he cut himself when attacking Mikio? Then, highly likely, it was his first knife attack. However, that alone could explain the viciousness of attacking the two remaining victims - he was scared and afraid of another self-injury.
(I remember reading somewhere that Haruko said there was “not too much” blood in the house?)
Also, was there one would, or several? From what I have read, many murderers/attackers injure themselves during the attacks, so if he, indeed, managed to cut himself, especially, several times, it screams, inexperienced. More likely, then, these were superficial venous cuts, and …maybe he didn’t know about blood clots? So he’d press hard (any cloth would do), then the bleeding would stop, then he’d try to wash it off, dislodge the clot and it would start bleeding again. But it doesn’t mean that he lost a lot of blood, though.
If he pierced a hand artery, given that the knife appears sharp on the picture, the splatter pattern would be like a fountain of blood, rapidly pooling in a small area of the floor. Imagine a water track from a fountain as opposed to spilling the same water from a cup. I guess he’d need help if he pierced a hand artery, a suture or cauterization, unless it was small. If he merely pierced a small artery, he’d manage, but need to keep the area elevated, and…in my case, it took two hours to stop (and mine was tiny in a mundane situation.) The blood loss was small, but the bleeding felt unstoppable. There is no scar or trace of injury. Venous cuts can heal themselves, although sutures are often applied to larger cuts, for faster healing and cosmetic purposes.
But let us look at it from his position. If, as
@Sor Juana has said, he was holding the knife via a holed handkerchief, theoretically, it was to prevent accidental self-slashing, and pierced (arterial) wound is more likely. That would have been more dangerous, but can leave a very small scar. But you say, his gloves were slashed? It likely means, several wounds that are probably superficial and venous. Those would bleed, of course, but slowly. They may leave noticeable scars, even now.
So his reaction. If wounding an artery, he’d need someone’s help. Call, ask to pick him up, someone need to suture it. If these are several superficial hand wounds, he’d manage himself, but he is probably scared and inexperienced, so he makes a mess. Then his behavior may be fear-driven, and he dissociates because of hyperventilation.
You know who I am thinking of? An introverted kid, playing some games available in 2000, marching around the house, with a knife in a napkin or handkerchief, “make-believe play”. He is probably doing pushups and is slim but strong. He tries invasion, but a real-life situation is different, hence, all this mess. It is not impossible that he killed Yasuko and Niina as “witnesses”, overdoing it because of own fear. In such a scenario, it is possible that his target was Rei, but what did he need is unclear. Maybe, a younger brother or a playmate?
