Comments on: Killer of Lindsay Hawker “has almost certainly committed suicide”

By: The latest news on the murder of NOVA teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker | Japan Probe

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:49:47 +0000

[...] Update 25: [October 23, 2008] The Times reports that police could scale down the investigation because they think Ichihashi may have committed suicide. [...]

By: concerned Filipino

concerned Filipino — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:08:26 +0000

Probably eat the Japanese equivalent of donuts.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 05:01:20 +0000

Works ok in Japan

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:31:06 +0000

An interview with Lindsay’s sister about the matter (Don’t know if it will work outside the UK):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7690543.stm

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 04:38:37 +0000

140 J-stone Kops.

Working for 19 months.

Total man months = 2260
Total man years = 221 years 8 months.

More than the 3 times the combined ages of Lyndsay and her Father.

All we have to date is a picture of what the perpetrator might look like in drag (oh yes, the boys in the ‘investigation’ squad must have had a good giggle photoshopping that one… ), some security camera footage of Ichihashi messing with his hair in an elevator (not unusual for a Japanese person) and a whole bunch of publically donated ‘dead-ends’ (dead-ends, because they are simply not investigated) – all this **after** the J-stone Kops stopped him, then let him escape … barefoot.

What do the J-stone Kops on this case do all day?

By: Level3

Level3 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:15:57 +0000

Always been suspicious of this “140-strong” investigation team number. Is it really 140 cops spending 40 hours a week each tracking down clues and leads?

Or is it that each cop at HQ (maybe to a total of 140) is signed up on a list and just promises to do something if something should turn up someday?

There’s still no real national police force equivalent to the FBI, right? Still everything is done by the local/prefectural cops. Are they only looking in Chiba and need to fill out special forms with multiple hankos to look in Tokyo? I have no idea how the J cops actually operate, except they seem to have a tendency to depend on people just turning themselves in and confessing on their own.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:21:10 +0000

ADMIN@ Please feel free to remove my comment.

I’m over my initial outrage and now I’m back in my general malaise of: “Same old shit… different bucket.” when presented with a J-stone Kops story.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:17:40 +0000

Parsing the original story, it seems as though the information came from someone not involved with the Chiba police, but rather with a different force. Look at all references to police in the article:

1) First paragraph ends, “…Japanese police have concluded.”

2) And then: “…senior detectives believe that he would have been caught by now if he was alive.”

3) Then a quote from “a police source”: “The Chiba police are continuing their investigation…detectives in Tokyo have concluded that Ichihashi is dead.”

Very careful wording. It never says that the information is coming from a police source in Chiba. The source seems more familiar with the Tokyo police force’s opinion.

Perhaps a Tokyo police source is willing to say (anonymously) what the Chiba police will not. Then again, detectives have been known to put out disinformation at times. The refusal to comment on sexual assault is very, very telling. I wonder what other information they could be holding back.

By: Momonga

Momonga — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:45:24 +0000

The police denied this report officially.Obviously again some speculations by the media.But at least it woke up some people at the top.

By: L.

L. — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:14:29 +0000

It makes me angry. What happened to the Japanese claims regarding the efficacy of their police force and how they catch such a greater percentage of criminals than “inferior” Western police?

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:46:58 +0000

I believe the police are now denying this report.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:12:26 +0000

What a sack of fucking shit.

I NEEDED to type that.

By: feitclub

feitclub — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:57:39 +0000

As little faith as I have in the Japanese police force, they continue to find new and unexpected ways of disappointing me.

By: Rated R

Rated R — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:23:19 +0000

It’s crazy how easy it seems to evade police… The head of the investigation should commit suicide. No way would the suspect kill himself, why would he? The mountains in Japan are not wastelands, it would be pretty damned easy to survive in them.

By: tzvete

tzvete — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:39:51 +0000

The Japanese police did nothing about the Setagaya case,also,right?Though a whole family was murdered in their sleep and there were so mny evidences…

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:30:43 +0000

Just goes to show you how accurate the phrase “cop out” is.

By: kenji

kenji — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:20:49 +0000

wow…what a bunch of bull#@$%. thats such a nice excuse for them to make.

“oh hes somewhere in the mountains. there’s so many of ‘em…we’ll never find him ya’know? oh sorry bout yer loss mr. hawker.” basically what the po said. im not surprised by this story but i am surprised ichihashi has eluded capture (if hes still alive…) for such a long time.