Japanese police apologize for their failure to capture Lindsay Hawker’s killer

The father of murdered English teacher Lindsay Hawker has come to Japan again to renew his call for the capture of Tatsuya Ichihashi:

Hawker, who is currently visiting Japan, told Kyodo News, “When I saw him yesterday at a police station, he apologized that he hasn’t found this man yet.”

He was referring to suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi, who the police believe abandoned Hawker’s body at his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. He managed to escape from the police officers who went to his apartment in March last year.

“I could be critical because they let Ichihashi go on the first night. Everybody knows that,” Hawker, 55, said.

“So I feel disgusted when I heard they couldn’t catch him on the night, but we can’t turn the clock back,” said a tearful Hawker, adding he believes the police are making utmost efforts after failing to catch Ichihashi.

Over a year has passed since Lindsay Hawker was brutally murdered in Ichihashi’s apartment, and this is the fourth time her father has come to Japan.

14 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - September 18, 2008 at 3:02 pm

Categories: Foreigners in Japan Tags: lindsay hawker

B

Come on guys, do you not read what you’ve written? All this requires fixing:

… failure to capture Linday Hawker’s killer (Fix typo)

… the capture off Tatsuya Ichihashi (Fix typo)

“When I saw him yesterday at a police station, he apologized that he hasn’t found this man yet.” Who apologized? There is no prior mention of who Mr Hawker was talking to.

I could be critical because… (Fix typo)

edwardhasnewgoggles

Someone should fix you. Being in the grammar police was so high school.

sheerblade

Typo’s aside it’s pretty ridiculous that this guy hasn’t been caught yet.
S

Guess I will sound like a hater but I`m sure the police is never going to find him, essentially because they are not trying due to the suspect being Japanese.

I`m sure the other way around, like a foreigner killing a Japanese girl would lead to national manhunt from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

Melodieux

Yeah, they NEVER arrest Japanese people. Why is every article littered with comments like this?

“New species of poodle found in Sapporo.”

“Random commentor: I bet they would never let a foreigner have this poodle.”

concerned Filipino

Those Japanese people were arrested for crimes against other Japanese. This one committed a crime against a foreigner. There’s a difference.

Escaping from his apartment? Do the J police really not know basics of arresting suspects – like completely surrounding the hideout beforehand? Of course, if they do, then the alternative is that they let him go on purpose – which of course is impossible, right?

Not to mention going to ground for over a year in this highly urbanized, small island nation, where the collective mentality would ensure that any sightings of him would be reported to the police – if his face were known to the public and the public were actually interested in catching him, that is. Doesn’t the guy have to go to a konbini every now and then?

LB

“This one committed a crime against a foreigner. There’s a difference.”
Right. No Japanese citizen has ever been arrested, tried and convicted for committing a crime against a foreigner. Except for Joji Obara. Whoops!

“Do the J police really not know basics of arresting suspects – like completely surrounding the hideout beforehand?”
Except he was not a murder suspect at that time. Lindsay Hawker was not known to be dead. The police went to his apartment as Lindsay’s roommates knew him (he had followed her home and she let him in). He was known to possibly be the last person to see here alive – that does not make him a murderer.

I really have no problem with the idea that a 20-something male pumped up on adrenalin can outrun a couple of middle-aged cops in suits, evade them in the dark and get away. And the cops were prepared – two at his door, more outside the building’s entrance (which he apparently didn’t use. But again, they were going to question him, not arrest him. If they had been going to arrest him I am sure they would have been better prepared.

“Not to mention going to ground for over a year in this highly urbanized, small island nation, where the collective mentality would ensure that any sightings of him would be reported to the police – if his face were known to the public and the public were actually interested in catching him, that is. Doesn’t the guy have to go to a konbini every now and then?”

And how long have those three from Aum Shinrikyo been hiding? About 13 years now? Or any of several other murderers of Japanese who have successfully gone into hiding despite having their names and faces plastered all over the country. “Highly urbanized” – you need to get out of the city. “Collective mentality” – stop reading bad travel guides and questionable websites.

I’ll tell all the Sherlocks out there: how about you become a cop and show everyone how it is done? If you are such an all-pro armchair quarterback, you should really be able to teach real cops a thing or two, right? Or you all could continue to proudly display your recto-cranial inversion and blither on about how Japanese cops won’t chase Japanese criminals if the victim is a foreigner. Sheesh.
nigelboy

“Escaping from his apartment? Do the J police really not know basics of arresting suspects – like completely surrounding the hideout beforehand? Of course, if they do, then the alternative is that they let him go on purpose – which of course is impossible, right?”

Yep. They let him go simply because he’s Japanese. Forget about the fact that the media and the JAPANESE public are outraged and that they are criticizing and ridiculing over the incompetence of the Chiba police. It’s worth the price of saving one Japanese from prosecution.

Sigh.
concerned Filipino

nigelboy, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Didn’t I say that it’s impossible that they let him go on purpose?

Sigh.

LB

Aly Rustom, is that you?

Mister M

pretty sad the death of this lady. I believe that this guy realy need a death penalty as part of his punishment. What a hack!!!
hadji

“I really have no problem with the idea that a 20-something male pumped up on adrenalin can outrun a couple of middle-aged cops in suits, evade them in the dark and get away.”

He certainly did flee on foot, he even left out the shoe part.

Christ, the guy was shoeless. Im March. In a nation obsessed with footwear he must have stood out like 10 sore toes.
ameridude

I think I may have walked across a person who looked exactly like Tatsuya Ichihashi at University of California Irvine.

Although you don’t really need to flee a country to evade capture for a year and it is highly unlikely who I saw was indeed Ichihashi, I sincerely hope I am wrong in thinking he is.
Egoist

They are doing a special segment on Ichihashi right now on TV (channel 6)…they reckon he is hiding out in 2-chome of shinjuku. Cross-dressing….

Japanese police apologize for their failure to capture Lindsay Hawker’s killer

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