Ichihashi stays silent as police begin questioning him on Hawker murder

Wednesday 11th November, 11:58 PM JST

CHIBA —

Tatsuya Ichihashi, the suspect in the 2007 murder of British woman Lindsay Hawker, had two gun-shaped mace canisters in his possession and about 300,000 yen in cash when he was arrested Tuesday in Osaka after more than two and a half years on the run, investigative sources said Wednesday.

After being transferred to Chiba Prefecture from Osaka following his arrest, Ichihashi, 30, went to sleep at around 3 a.m. Wednesday and got up at 6:30 a.m. He only drank a cup of tea and refused to eat either the breakfast or lunch provided, according to the sources.

During police questioning, Ichihashi, who had changed his appearance through several plastic surgery operations, responded to questions about his hometown and family, but fell silent when asked about abandoning the body of an English teacher Hawker, then 22, at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba, in March 2007, and about his life as a fugitive, the sources said.

According to the Chiba prefectural police, he told police officers, ‘‘I have no excuses and nothing to talk about,’’ when they informed him of the charge against him of abandoning a body, the technical charge on which he was arrested.

Meanwhile, Ichihashi’s parents told a press conference Wednesday in Hashima, Gifu Prefecture, they were relieved to know he is in police custody but also felt betrayed by him.

Ichihashi’s father said, ‘’‘It was hard for us to watch all that commotion around him when he was being transferred. I hope he will tell the truth about what he did.’‘

Ichihashi was seized at Osaka port on Tuesday evening by police officers who had received a tip that there was a man resembling someone on a wanted poster sitting on a bench in the ferry terminal building.

According to the ferry boat company, Ichihashi first went to its service office in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, and asked about a boat to Okinawa. Investigators suspect Ichihashi was trying to flee to the southern island of Okinawa from Osaka by ferry.

He was taken to a Chiba police station after arriving at Tokyo Station by Shinkansen bullet train from Shin-Osaka Station.

He had grown a beard and mustache when he visited a clinic in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, for cosmetic surgery on Oct 24, but he did not have them when he arrived at Gyotoku Police Station in Chiba, instead having long wavy hair which covered his face.

Ichihashi, who was almost silent throughout the trip by bullet train, appeared exhausted after being transferred from Osaka to Chiba, according to the investigators, and told them he had nothing to say about the charges against him when he arrived at the police station. He just nodded to other questions by the investigators, they said.

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Latest 15 of 91 Total Comments Show All

TokyoXtreme at 04:55 PM JST - 12th November

In the case of revenge or punishment, "an eye for an eye" can be construed to mean "no more than an eye for an eye". Essentially the phrase exists to limit excessive vengeance.
LoveUSA at 05:04 PM JST - 12th November

He remains silent and i wonder does he has some mental block that inhibits him to remember the hideous things he has done.
Scrote at 05:07 PM JST - 12th November

Disillusioned: It's not necessary for the police to produce "physical evidence showing she died at his hands", all they have to do is show, beyond reasonable doubt, that Ichihashi committed murder. You can never be 100% certain that someone is guilty, but all the evidence points to Ichihashi's guilt.
Lowly at 06:15 PM JST - 12th November

kokorocloud, bugger, others,

I am not sure if you are talking about me or the other one or two ppl who made the point that he is all of us. To clarify what I said, if you have illusions about what you are capable of when the final straw is laid on the camel's back, it means you have illusions about what "regular" folks around you will do when the final straw is laid on the camel's back. And that means you are potentially in danger. Keep your eyes peeled and don't get stabbed is what I said. And don't do any stabbing. Yes it is a choice, but one you are capable of, if not right this minute. And no I have no problem with punishing him. Or anyone else who crosses the line. I am not at all confused about that and I don't feel at all sorry for him.

Just don't wind up like lindsay. That woman who killed all those guys for money in tottori too, is normal. There are probably a lot like her. be careful.
saeiry at 11:23 PM JST - 12th November

I somehow understand what kyushujoe was trying to say. You never know what's in the mind of a criminal, you have no idea what he was thinking or how he was feeling when he did what he did. Maybe he was a perfectly normal guy like you and me until then, or maybe not, you don't know his psychologic background, we know nothing about him. Please don't judge. He is going to spend the rest of his life in prison, which is possibily worse than being dead. Can't even imagine living my whole life behind bars, isn't that enough of a punishment?
flatearther at 11:35 PM JST - 12th November

He's NOT normal, he was just very good at appearing to be normal. That's one of the many hallmark characteristics of a psychopath. They APPEAR to be normal until they want something, then all bets are off. They will charm you to get what they want and if they still don't get it, they are capable of almost anything. While some may classify this behavior and character type as "normal" it's certainly unhealthy and even dangerous at times. Anyone who does feel sympathy for these people needs to get help.
fishy at 09:15 AM JST - 13th November

well, what's the definition of "normal" then? we all want to think we are normal, and people who appear to be a little different are not normal? ichihashi might have been one of us, UNTIL he did what he did to Lindsay.. still, he needs to tell the truth and what really happened on that day -- what he did will not be forgiven, but that is the least he can do, and that is what people i consider "normal" would do.. everyone makes mistakes.. some mistakes are not forgiven, but still, how you make up to those mistakes would change the rest of your life.
flatearther at 09:33 AM JST - 13th November

MY definition of a normal person is someone capable of empathy, which he clearly is not.
"everyone makes mistakes", you say?
Murdering someone without a reason is not a mistake, her life was not a typo at work, please don't call what he did a "mistake".
It was far more heinous and disgusting than that, and he can never atone for it.
He can't bring her back, he can't take away the 2 YEARS of anguish her family has suffered through and he can't take away the pain he's heaped upon thousands of people. It's no mistake, and he can NEVER atone for it.
You are right about one thing, he will never be forgiven. The only person whose forgiveness matters is the person he killed.
bushlover at 09:42 AM JST - 13th November

The only justice for Lindsay is seeing this creep dead. I want to hear that in the near future. No murderer deserves to stay alive because he chose to kill her. And then he tried to flee from his responsibility. No pity for the perp. only for the victim. Same thing for the curry woman, the subway gassers and the kid who decapitated the other kid. Them dead is a safer society. The victims will never come back.
chotto at 10:18 AM JST - 13th November

Even as a christian I think there are some crimes, which only can be paid by an eye for an eye... This one belongs to it...

sigh "Eye for an eye" does not imply "tit for tat". I wish people would understand this. It implies limiting damage.

As for his punishment. Let Hawker's parents decide.

Personally, I think the death penalty is a punishment only reserved for barbaric countries and the neanderthals that enforce it. So yes, I would compare parts of America and Japan's judicial system to that of the conservative Middle Eastern countries. Aside from anything it is NOT a deterrant, NOR does it bringback the victim. Having the criminal rot behind bars is a much more satisfying justice.

And do not use the "if that happened to someone who you knew..." argument. It's pathetic.
bushlover at 12:06 PM JST - 13th November

I don't think the Death Penalty is there for deterrence. It's there for the safety of society to not allow repeat offenses. Chotto, you are too politically correct for your own good.
soulboy at 12:22 PM JST - 13th November

I agree with kyushujoe and chotto. The death penalty is barbaric and just as wrong and evil as the original crime. All it does is create another grieving family and doesn't bring back the dead. If the guy is guilty he should spend most of life in prison. It has nothing to do with political correctness it is about right and wrong. Killing someone is always immoral.
bushlover at 12:30 PM JST - 13th November

Oh the poor grieving Ichihashi family if poor little Tetsuya gets his at the end of a rope. Pity for them NOT! I'd like to hear from family members of victims of murder to see how they felt when the killer of their loved one was put down.
chotto at 12:37 PM JST - 13th November

I'd like to hear from family members of victims of murder to see how they felt when the killer of their loved one was put down.

Jubilation that their love had been resurrected, no doubt, and that no more murders were ever going to take place again. Hoorah.
combinibento at 12:37 PM JST - 13th November

As much as I hate to admit it, staying silent during police questioning means he at least has some brains.