U.S. sailor gets life in prison for killing Japanese taxi driver

Friday 31st July, 07:09 AM JST

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mael at 05:22 PM JST - 31st July

regrettably, diversity seems to be working too well for you and whatever tribe you come from, too.

Diversity has always worked well. It is a pity that diversity is vanishing as people alien to a culture are thrown in and allowed to continue to follow their native ways - like the creature who murdered that taxi driver. The situation should never have been allowed to have been possible to have taken place.
jessssicaaa at 06:14 PM JST - 31st July

Good. he deserves it. Life for a life :)
alphawolf at 07:00 PM JST - 31st July

I think that being this sailor was not an American citizen, the Jpn govt felt more comfortable throwing the book at him (and he deserved it in my opinion).. had he been an American citizen, maybe he would have gotten 10 yrs or so..

aw
Farmboy at 07:07 PM JST - 31st July

I do think the outreach program that results in Nigerian citizens serving in the US Navy is wonderfully inclusive, but might need a bit of tweaking...
M51T at 09:26 PM JST - 31st July

Wonder what Masaaki Takahashi's family receives out of this?
kamakuradude at 12:45 AM JST - 1st August

The end.
Hawkeye at 07:17 AM JST - 1st August

This guy was on a fastrack to being a US citizen because the US military will accept non US citizens into the US miliatry and then in like two years they are US citizens and bring all their families to the USA. You would wonder how sound a policy that is. I bet there is no onther country in the world where a foreigner can dress up in their military's uniform, have access to security information and carry or use weapons. What a stupid system.
sharky1 at 08:37 AM JST - 1st August

Obviously, Hawkeye has no knowledge of how this system works.
Farmboy at 09:21 AM JST - 1st August

The system of incorporating non-citizens into the military is a point of argument, for obvious reasons. Information is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/26/world/americas/26iht-military.4020881.html
DenDon at 10:15 AM JST - 1st August

he will be free to kill again after he returns to wherever they send him in about 2029

sounds like the perfect candidate for the army/navy
BlackTieAffair at 04:27 PM JST - 1st August

A death sentence would have been a lot better for this guy. How is the taxi drivers family being compensated? Hopefully, The Navy will get their sailors under control but time will tell.
Molenir at 05:31 AM JST - 2nd August

A death sentence would have been a lot better for this guy. How is the taxi drivers family being compensated? Hopefully, The Navy will get their sailors under control but time will tell.

Statements like these really make me laugh. Just shows how stupid the poster truly is. Do you truly believe that only a US serviceman would commit such a crime? The Navy doesn't need to 'get their sailors under control.' Anymore then the Japanese need to 'get their people under control.' After all, you're much more likely to be murdered by a Japanese person in Japan, then you are an American. I know that shocks racist idiots like yourself, but those are the facts. Having said this, I do have to agree with one part of the posters comment. The guy ought to have gotten the death penalty. Not because he was a serviceman, or because he is not Japanese, but because the crime truly deserved it.

Personally, I'd like to call for tougher punishments for everyone, Japanese and non-Japanese. They should be equally harsh on everyone. Not discriminate based on country of origin, or why they happen to be in the country. Only the crime should matter.
societymike at 10:37 AM JST - 4th August

Hawkeye at 07:17 AM JST - 1st August I bet there is no onther country in the world where a foreigner can dress up in their military's uniform, have access to security information and carry or use weapons. What a stupid system.

sharky1 at 08:37 AM JST - 1st August Obviously, Hawkeye has no knowledge of how this system works.

True. Non-US citizens in the US Military do not get access to sensitive information and do not even get security clearences and in some cases a weapon.
USARonin at 09:56 PM JST - 4th August

If this guy wasn't nutz, and if he was obviously the initiator and aggressor, the Japanese should hang him.
zurcronium at 10:17 AM JST - 5th August

another example of how low the US military must go to fill out the ranks to fight failed wars in the middle east. Recruiting non-citizens? With mental illness? Who is then trained to kill people by the military and ends up killing a taxi cab driver?

When this story broke the apologists for the military, you all know who you are, went on and on about there being doubt that one of theirs was a murderer. Until the credit card was announced. Then they shut up. Now you want this guy to hang for his crimes. Typical military cover up and then dump the offender when you cannot defend him any longer pattern. So predictable and so shallow

The DPJ will be sending half you out of Japan very soon anyway.