Lindsay Hawker

Infobox Person
name = Lindsay Hawker


image_size=170px
caption = Lindsay Hawker
birth_date = birth date|1984|12|30
birth_place = England, United Kingdom
death_date = death date and age|2007|3|24|1984|12|30|mf=y
death_place = Ichikawa, Japan

Lindsay Ann Hawker (December 30,1984 [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=457891&in_page_id=1770 Dailymail.co.uk] ] - March 24,2007 [ [http://www.truecrimeblog.co.uk/2007/03/murder-of-lindsay-ann-hawker.html truecrimeblog.co.uk] ] )was a 22-year old British citizen who was murdered in Japan in early 2007.

Background

Hawker moved to Japan in October 2006 to teach English at the Koiwa branch of Nova, Japan's largest private English conversation school. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6502219.stm |title=Profile: Lindsay Ann Hawker |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-03-28 ] She was reported missing on Monday March 26, 2007 by her employers after she failed to answer her mobile phone when her flatmate called.

After being alerted to her disappearance, police visited the apartment of 28-year old Tatsuya Ichihashi, in Ichikawa, just east of Tokyo.cite news |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070329a1.html |title=Briton's suspected murderer on run; father pleads for help |publisher=The Japan Times |date=2007-03-29 ] Despite the police presence, Ichihashi escaped the scene. After he had fled, police found a backpack containing two days' underwear and the suspect's shoes. His socks had been cast aside a few hundred metres from his home. Police dogs lost his scent soon after, suggesting that he had escaped in a taxi. A warrant was issued, [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/6501721.stm |title=Hunt for man after Briton's death |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-03-28 ] , but the suspect has not yet been apprehendedcite web
url= http://timesonline.typepad.com/times_tokyo_weblog/2007/03/japanse_police_.html
title= Japanese police struggle to find Lindsay's killer
accessdate= 2007-04-09
publisher= The Times
date= March 30, 2007 ] , and there is a growing belief that Ishihashi may have committed suicidecite web
url= http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20070417-00000009-gen-ent
title= 英会話講師殺害事件　自殺説流れる「犯人の行方」
accessdate= 2007-04-24
publisher= Yahoo News (Nikkan Gendai)
date=April 17, 2007 ] , though there have been no statements from police. However, there is the belief that he is crossdressing in order to avoid arrest [ [http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=4044 Is Tatsuya Ichihashi Cross-Dressing To Avoid Police? | Japan Probe ] ] . Additionally, eyewitness reports have put his whereabouts in many areas in Japan and even as far from Tokyo as Sapporo.

Hawker's naked body was found buried in a sand-filled bathtub on the apartment's balcony. She had severe injuries to her face and arms, and her possessions were strewn across the room.cite news |url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1257881,00.html |title='A Wonderful Person' |publisher=Sky News |date=2007-03-28 ]

Investigation

On March 29, an autopsy report showed that Hawker died from strangulation. Police said that Hawker's hands and ankles were tied with plastic cord used to bind plants, and she was buried in horticultural soil. Egg-sized bruises on the left side of her face appear to have been inflicted with a fist, while lesser marks on her upper body were the result of collision with furniture, probably during a struggle, police said. Authorities continue to refuse to confirm or deny whether there were signs of sexual assault.

Police suspect that between Sunday night and early Monday, Ichihashi moved the bathtub from the bathroom to the balcony and put Hawker's body into it. Neighbors said they heard sounds of something striking metal and something being dragged during that time period. Police obtained an arrest warrant Tuesday for Ichihashi on suspicion of abandoning her body, and put him on the nationwide wanted list. On March 29, detectives removed from Mr. Ichihashi’s apartment building a shopping trolley in which he is believed to have transported the bags of horticultural soil in which Hawker was buried.

On March 29, a team of twenty Japanese police officers raided Hotel Chateau, a love hotel in Nishi-Funabashi, east of Tokyo, where rooms are rented to couples by the hour, but did not find Ichihashi.

On April 2, Sky News reported that CCTV footage from a surveillance camera in a coffee shop in Tokyo shows Hawker and her killer together on the same day as the murder, apparently meeting for an English lesson.cite news |url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-1258637,00.html |title=Is This Lindsay's Killer? |publisher=Sky News |date=2007-04-02 ]

On March 13, 2008, Japanese police released a new wanted poster of Ichihashi, which included an enhanced image of the suspect disguised as a woman. [ [http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/431056 New wanted posters of Hawker murder suspect in various disguises released] Japan Today 2008-03-14] They also released images of a drawing he had made of Hawker in the hopes that someone will recognize the drawing style.

The police are now investigating sightings of Ichihashi among the gay sections of Kabukicho in Tokyo, where he had tentatively been identified by his male sexual partners. [ [http://www.japantoday.com/category/shukan-post/view/ichihashi-reportedly-seen-in-tokyos-gay-area] Ichihashi reportedly seen in Tokyo's gay area.]

Comparisons

This murder has been compared to [cite news |url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1258061,00.html |title='It's Like Japanese Torture' |publisher=Sky News |date=2007-03-28 ] to that of Lucie Blackman, another female British citizen, whose dismembered body was found buried in a shallow grave at a beach in Miura, Kanagawa in June 2001.

References

External links

* [http://lindsayhawkerarticles.blogspot.com The Lindsay Hawker Case - Media (J-E)] - English Translations of Recent Japanese Articles Related to the Lindsay Ann Hawker Murder Case
* [http://www.lindsayannhawker.com/ lindsayannhawker.com] "Help Us Get Justice for Lindsay"
* [http://www.being-a-broad.net/index.php/bab/lah/ Being A Broad T-shirt awareness campaign]