The father of a 30-year-old woman accused of murdering of a man found decapitated in a Sapporo hotel in 2023 pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of aiding his daughter in the killing.

Osamu Tamura, a 61-year-old psychiatrist, allegedly assisted in the murder of the male company worker by purchasing items for his daughter Runa such as a saw and suitcase believed to have been used in the crime between June and July 2023, according to the indictment.

He is also suspected of driving his daughter to and from near the crime scene on the day of the incident and filming Runa damaging the head of the 62-year-old victim at their home after the murder, it said.

"There are several things that I believe are different (from the facts)," Tamura said in his first court hearing at the Sapporo District Court.

The victim was found naked and headless in a hotel in the Susukino entertainment district of the northern Japanese city on July 2, 2023. His head was subsequently found in the bathroom of the Tamura residence.

Runa, who has been indicted on charges of murder, allegedly killed the man by stabbing him in the neck at around 11:15 p.m. on July 1, and took the head home in a suitcase after beheading him.

Her mother, Hiroko, is also accused of allowing Runa to hide the victim's head at home and the filming of her daughter damaging the corpse, but pleaded not guilty in a court hearing that began in June last year.

The dates for Runa's court hearings have not been determined.