The bodies of two men and one woman were found in a house in Kobe on Thursday in what police believe was a murder-suicide. 

Police said the woman and one of the men were beaten to death, while the second man had hanged himself from a staircase, NHK reported.

According to police, a man called 110 at around 5:20 p.m. on Thursday and said, "I can't get in touch with my wife and son, who went over to my brother’s house to discuss something.”

About an hour later, police went to the home in Nishi Ward, and discovered the 64-year-old male resident (the caller’s brother) dead, having hanged himself with a rope tied to the handrail on the second floor.

In a tatami-mat room on the first floor, the caller's 62-year-old wife and 27-year-old son were found dead, bleeding from head wounds. A bloodstained hammer was found near their bodies, and there were signs of a struggle inside the room.

Police believe the resident killed his sister-in-law and nephew, then hanged himself.