Ichihashi charged with rape, murder of British woman+

CHIBA, Japan, Dec. 2 Kyodo -
Tatsuya Ichihashi was served a fresh arrest warrant Wednesday on suspicion of
raping and killing Briton Lindsay Hawker at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba
Prefecture in 2007, after being indicted earlier in the day on the charge of
abandoning her body.
The 30-year-old was arrested Nov. 10 in Osaka on the charge of abandoning
Hawker's body, after more than two and a half years on the run since her body
was found at his apartment in March 2007.
Although Ichihashi has remained silent about the case, Chiba police strongly
suspect that he raped and strangled the 22-year-old language teacher sometime
between the morning of March 25 that year, when she was last seen, and the
night of March 26 when she was found dead.
Ichihashi was quoted as saying ''all right'' in a low voice when he was served
the warrant on the last day of his detention period authorized under the
initial arrest.
The police said they have decided to pursue the two charges of murder and rape
resulting in death because the suspected acts appear to have been closely
associated. They believe no one else was in the apartment at the time.
An autopsy found bruises on Hawker's face and body, and determined she was
strangled to death, but the police on Wednesday declined to elaborate on how
she was killed, while saying they had informed Hawker's family of their latest
action.
Hawker began giving private English conversation lessons to Ichihashi several
days before her death, according to the investigation.
Ichihashi fled from police officers on the evening of March 26, 2007, as they
called at his apartment after the language school Hawker worked for reported
that it had lost contact with her. The police subsequently found Hawker's body
inside a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony.
During his 32 months on the run, Ichihashi used a false name to work at
different construction companies and had plastic surgery to alter his face.
One of the clinics that conducted the surgery on Ichihashi tipped off the
police and provided a photograph of his post-surgical appearance. He was
arrested shortly after the picture was released at a ferry terminal in Osaka
while waiting for a ship bound for Okinawa.
On the day of Ichihashi's arrest, Bill Hawker, the father of the murdered
woman, said his family had ''got justice'' and he hoped Ichihashi would admit
to what he has done.
But Ichihashi has refused to speak about the case and he did not eat for two
weeks after his arrest. Health concerns prompted the police to transfer him to
a detention facility inside a local prison, which has doctors and nurses.
==Kyodo
2009-12-02 23:12:18