22 year old British woman found buried in sand in bathtub on Veranda

[IkemenTommy]

[Mike Oxlong]

So, has any cop/P.I. poked around his folks place out in Aichi, Ichinomiya-shi?

[amdg]

I have been wrong before, but my intuition is telling me that Ichihashi is not a suicide candidate. Too many factors about the murder and failed aprehension influence me to think that he is trying to hide it out, or move outside Japan.

[TFG]

The keystone J-cops have now denied that they have decided he committed suicide.

[wuchan]

The keystone J-cops have now denied that they have decided he committed suicide.

they figured out that it was too early to publicly give up. Maybe too much heat from the foreign media.

[Mulboyne]

..it isn't uncommon for killers to go into hiding. There's a statute of limitations on murder in Japan so, if a suspect can evade police, they can escape the charge and the death penalty...

The Mainichi has a piece on exactly this issue:

70 percent of fugitives wanted for serious crimes are at large for at least 5 years: NPA

Incidentally, the story behind the original Times piece and counterclaim by the police is a little clearer in Richard Lloyd Parry's follow-up. He claims that the source he quoted in his original piece was an officer of the Tokyo police giving his opinions. However, it is the Chiba police who are in charge of the investigation. Certainly, the views of a senior policeman in another force are worth recording but Lloyd Parry did make it sound to a casual reader as if he was reporting the views of someone leading the manhunt.

[Mike Oxlong]

This calls for someone with real skills...both as a profiler and a forensic criminalist.

[Catoneinutica]

Glad RLP is updating his blog again these days. This "suicide" thing seems just a face-saving way of putting the case on the back burner. Look forward to at least another ten years of having to see Ichihashi's psychopathic face at every train and police station, along with those Aum weirdos they've never caught.

Someone at - I forget where; JapanToday? - wrote that they live in Nagoya, where Ichihashi's parents had a clinic, and they never see any of his wanted posters. Can any fg in Nagoya (condolences!) verify that? If so, it'd certainly speak to the power of his parents' connections. Regardless, the trail begins with them; they've supported him all his misbegotten life.

[Sentakki Fried Chicken]

Incidentally, the story behind the original Times piece and counterclaim by the police is a little clearer in Richard Lloyd Parry's follow-up. He claims that the source he quoted in his original piece was an officer of the Tokyo police giving his opinions. However, it is the Chiba police who are in charge of the investigation. Certainly, the views of a senior policeman in another force are worth recording but Lloyd Parry did make it sound to a casual reader as if he was reporting the views of someone leading the manhunt.

I agree with you. In the original story, RLP never makes it clear that he is talking about Tokyo police. He refers to "Japanese police" believing Ichihashi has committed suicide and the reader would naturally assume he was talking about those actually investigating the case.

[Taro Toporific]

Lindsay Anne Hawker: Two families and the agony of waiting
MDN news 2008oct28
In a residential neighborhood near the Nagara River in southern Gifu Prefecture, the mother of Tatsuya Ichihashi -- the man wanted for the murder of English teacher Lindsay Anne Hawker last March -- awaits word from her 29-year-old son.
"Being a fugitive for the rest of his life is worse than a death sentence. I don't want that for him," she says, her tiny body trembling as she speaks to us on the street near her home.
Ichihashi's father was a hospital doctor, his mother a dentist. His father resigned soon after the incident, and hasn't returned home since. His mother worked at her parents' dental clinic, but has also given up her job.
"He's my son and I'm sure he'll come to me if he's still alive. I'm sure he will write or get in touch somehow, and I promised the victim's mother that if he comes to me for help, I'll take him to the police."...more...

[Catoneinutica]

Lindsay Anne Hawker: Two families and the agony of waiting
MDN news 2008oct28
In a residential neighborhood near the Nagara River in southern Gifu Prefecture, the mother of Tatsuya Ichihashi -- the man wanted for the murder of English teacher Lindsay Anne Hawker last March -- awaits word from her 29-year-old son.
"Being a fugitive for the rest of his life is worse than a death sentence. I don't want that for him," she says, her tiny body trembling as she speaks to us on the street near her home.
Ichihashi's father was a hospital doctor, his mother a dentist. His father resigned soon after the incident, and hasn't returned home since. His mother worked at her parents' dental clinic, but has also given up her job.
"He's my son and I'm sure he'll come to me if he's still alive. I'm sure he will write or get in touch somehow, and I promised the victim's mother that if he comes to me for help, I'll take him to the police."...more...

Now that is an interesting link: the first time I've read any sort of comment from the creature's parents. This is interesting:

"Ichihashi's father was a hospital doctor, his mother a dentist. His father resigned soon after the incident, and hasn't returned home since."

Meaning what? He's working as a transvestite hooker in Kabukicho too?

The mother's words are laced with the quintessential higaishi ishiki the Japanese excel at; maybe that's why the parents haven't seemed especially apologetic, as Hawker's father said when he was last in Japan.

[Takechanpoo]

[Taro Toporific]

[Behan]

Did they 'lose' their jobs or quit? I thought the father quit.

[Greji]

Did they 'lose' their jobs or quit? I thought the father quit.

In this case, I think it is essential the same thing.

[Catoneinutica]

[Behan]

In this case, I think it is essential the same thing.

I think they would be different if his hospital or place of employment fired him. I realize that he would have felt a lot of pressure to quit, however.

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

[pheyton]

Just read the article on the Times site. Difficult thing to read about when you have a daughter.

http://www.lindsayannhawker.com/

[Mulboyne]

[Tengu Kid]

Japan Today: Fugitive Ichihashi may be in Philippines

Theres lots of criminals in the world that need bringing to justice. But for whatever reason I really want them to catch this fatherfucker.

[Greji]

Japan Today: Fugitive Ichihashi may be in Philippines

Kinda interesting don't ya think?

If this is true, it becomes all that more interesting. When did they institute the nationwide alert? I mean it was only a murder. He must have ran all the way from the apartment to Narita and of course he had, and was carrying on his person, a current passport to otherwise fool the ever-alert immigrations officials...

[Mike Oxlong]

Kinda interesting don't ya think?

If this is true, it becomes all that more interesting. When did they institute the nationwide alert? I mean it was only a murder. He must have ran all the way from the apartment to Narita and of course he had, and was carrying on his person, a current passport to otherwise fool the ever-alert immigrations officials...

More likely they returned the passport to his parents after the prelims of the investigation were done, and they passed it back to their son, who'd been staying with family in the early stages of his disappearance.

[TennoChinko]

I hear life is cheaper in the Phillippines. And, so is the commissioning to take one's life - Ichihashi's in particular. Maybe someone on this board knows the current market rate for a clean "hit"?

If/when there is a serious threat to Ichihashi (if he is really hiding out there as the tabloid claims), you can bet your bottom dollar either the Japanese government and/or his parents ( who probably have been funding and supporting him all along) will step in to save his sorry ass.

[amdg]

Kinda interesting don't ya think?

If this is true, it becomes all that more interesting. When did they institute the nationwide alert? I mean it was only a murder. He must have ran all the way from the apartment to Narita and of course he had, and was carrying on his person, a current passport to otherwise fool the ever-alert immigrations officials...

Very fucking interesting. How the fuck did he get his passport?

[TennoChinko]

Very fucking interesting. How the fuck did he get his passport?

Probably with assistance from his parents - his father is a physician and mother is a dentist and both live & work in Gifu. They obviously have financial and political resources greater than the Hawker family.

[Catoneinutica]

Probably with assistance from his parents - his father is a physician and mother is a dentist and both live & work in Gifu. They obviously have financial and political resources greater than the Hawker family.

And as Mr. Hawker has said, they haven't expressed much contrition over the actions of their little snowflake Tatsuya-kun. And as I've said here many-a time, the parents probably have enough money, power, and connections to deflect any kind of police investigation into their finances.

[Mulboyne]