Summer is well and truly here in Okinawa, with the temperatures rising and the sun shining. Checked the weather report at 9am this morning and was told that it was 31°C but that it felt “like 36°C”. Thankfully the humidity was only 70% and a sea breeze coming through my apartment managed to keep me [...]
Over 2 years after the body of English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker was found in a bathtub of sand in Chiba, the main suspect was arrested this evening. Tatsuyo Ichihashi was captured by 
police early this evening at the Nanko ferry terminal waiting to board a ferry to Okinawa. After recent leads in the Osaka area and a new photo being published of him following cosmetic surgery he had done, a passenger in the ferry terminal reported a person bearing Ichihashi’s description to authorities at the ferry terminal. Police then approached and arrested him.
Currently, the charge is only the complete joke of “abandoning a body”, although Chiba police are hopeful of upgrading that charge to murder. I’m usually very critical of the Japanese police but it seems like after 2 and a half years they have finally got their man. Since initial posters were released, he has undergone a number of plastic surgery operations on his eyes, nose and mouth (no doubt funded by his wealthy family) and was attempting to undergo another round of surgery at a Fukuoka clinic in the near future. It has also emerged that he has been working undetected in Osaka for over a year while managing to remain under the radar.
But he is finally in custody and now the job moves from the police to the criminal courts to ensure that justice is done. I’m trying to be hopeful but just get the feeling he may only be found guilty in the eyes of the law in Japan of abandoning a body. I certainly hope not and hope that the Hawker family can finally get some closure on this.
Tags: featured, japanese news, lindsay ann hawker, murder, tatsuyo ichihashi
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November 12th, 2009 at 02:01
I think it’s a good lesson for us in the independent media that one of the main reasons he was actually recognized and caught is because his picture had been in the news and on 2CH. He’d apparently been working construction, going to clubs, and living his life in various places without being recognized or people being concerned. I saw rumors on the net about him going to karaoke with co-workers and singing English songs.
Then not too long after his story came back in the news when stories and photos of his plastic surgery surfaced, he was caught.
November 13th, 2009 at 06:06
hmmm…i’m curious, how many other fugitives think Okinawa an escape haven?!? and what does that say about local law enforcement scrutiny here??!
Okinawa: no longer just for Damn Marines!