Tokyo English teacher murder - trail gone cold
Last week I reported on the murder of Lindsay Ann Hawker, an English teacher with the Nova company who was living in Tokyo (see articles here and here). Unfortunately, as I predicted in the articles I posted, the 
trail on the suspect seems to have gone cold. When her father and boyfriend arrived in the country the media here in Japan perked up a little, but since then virtually nothing has been reported. CCTV footage was released of the suspect meeting Hawker on the Saturday morning, but no new leads have been found since. Will Ichihashi ever be found by the authorities? Is he even still alive? A number of people feel he may have committed suicide and will be found in the forest at the base of Mt Fuji, where many people have taken their own lives. I don’t share that opinion though. Although I don’t avidly watch the crime reports on Japanese TV, it’s not often that I’ve heard of a murder suspect killing themselves here. If you have brought shame on your company, self etc then suicide is seen as a potential way to atone. However, murder doesn’t seem to have the same shame and embarrassment involved in it for some reason.
Wish I could report more interesting news about this case, but things have gone alarmingly quiet. Hopefully when I get back from my weekend away I’ll have something more to report on the case.
or Discuss this Article
