Ichihashi sent to prosecutors in case of murdered British teacher+

CHIBA, Japan, Nov. 12 Kyodo -
Tatsuya Ichihashi, the prime suspect in the murder of 22-year-old English
language teacher Lindsay Hawker in 2007, was handed over to prosecutors by the
Chiba prefectural police on Thursday.

Ichihashi, 30, has remained silent about the allegations against him over
Hawker's death, which include abandoning her body on the balcony of his
apartment in Chiba Prefecture in March 2007, and about his life as a fugitive
for two and a half years, investigative sources said.
He has not eaten anything since his arrest on Tuesday, and has only consumed
green tea since arriving at Gyotoku police station in Chiba from Osaka early
Wednesday, they said. He refused the three meals provided for him on Wednesday
and breakfast on Thursday, according to the sources.
During a media scrum as the police were preparing to transfer Ichihashi,
meanwhile, a 30-year-old director at Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc.
was arrested for obstructing the vehicle being used.
The director was quoted as telling the police, ''I'm very sorry for causing
trouble,'' while the public relations division of TBS said, ''It's true that
one of our staff was arrested. It happened during our news gathering activities
and we are checking what really happened.''
Hawker is believed to have died from suffocation, possibly by being strangled,
and there were numerous marks on her face indicating she had been beaten,
according to the police.
Ichihashi was captured at Osaka port on Tuesday evening by police officers who
were tipped off that a man resembling the photo of Ichihashi on a wanted poster
was waiting at a ferry terminal.
==Kyodo
2009-11-12 22:48:29