A former vice health minister and his wife were found dead with stab wounds Nov.18 morning at their home in Saitama Prefecture, police officials said.

The police are treating the deaths of Takehiko Yamaguchi , 66, and his wife, Michiko, 61, as murder, the officials said.

At around 10:15 a.m., a neighbor noticed blood at the front door of Yamaguchi's house, found the couple collapsed and bleeding from their chests, and called the police, the officials said, adding that the door was unlocked.

The weapon used to stab the two has not been found, they said.

In November 1996, Yamaguchi became vice minister of the then-Health and Welfare Ministry, replacing Nobuharu Okamitsu, who resigned over a corruption scandal, and served in the post until August 1999.