"I've Even Arrested Him In My Dreams"

The following article ran as part of Sankei Newspaper's year-end wrap up column dubbed "End of the Year Journal," where reporters reflect on some of the year's high profile stories.

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"A guy working at the restaurant looks like Ichihashi."

Two detectives pull up in their car, returning from checking out the restaurant lead. "He really did look like Ichihashi, but it wasn't him," the senior detective sighs.

September 2007. Six months after the body of 22-year-old British English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker was found at a condominium in Ichikawa City in March, reporters joined two detectives as they tracked 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi's whereabouts.

The detectives revisit a Tokyo district with plenty of cheap lodging where Ichihashi may be holed up.

"You're back again? Haven't you caught him yet?" says the woman who runs one of the rooming houses. Return visits to a previously investigated scene is an ironclad rule of police work.

"Not yet. You haven't heard anything?"

"Nothing. He's gotta be dead by now."

Everywhere they visit the detectives hand out new wanted flyers¹, bowing as they ask for cooperation.

"If I was off duty or on my way to work, if Ichihashi suddenly appeared I wonder about how I would make sure to arrest him. I have dreams where I catch him, and dreams where he gets away...I'm sure other detectives on the case have similar thoughts."

"I will never forgive the man who killed my daughter," said Hawker's tearful father as he held up a photograph of Lindsay. He saw off his daughter to what they believed was a safe country, but she ended up dead.

"The pain her family is going through must be unbearable. [Ichihashi] has to be caught," says the detective.

The search continues to crawl across the country, but it doesn't seem as if the words "Suspect Arrested" will reach the shores of England before year's end.


Mizuho Nishioka.



¹ The revised flyer with the reward money for any leads leading to the arrest of Ichihashi. See the June 29 entry for details.


Article Source: Yahoo! News Japan, December 21st 2007, 8:21am (Tokyo). Originally appeared in Sankei Newspaper (article not online).

Closeup Photo of Ichihashi Distinguishing Marks / 2channel Latest

In an unfortunate repeat of the words stated at the top of the previous entry (July 31), there have been absolutely no developments since the reward campaign announced at the end of June (see June 29th entry). That doesn't mean that the case has been forgotten or that this blog has ceased operations.

I'm not sure when it was updated, but I noticed that the Chiba Police site now provides a closeup photograph with arrows indicating the two moles on Lindsay Hawker murder suspect¹ Ichihashi's left cheek. I had mentioned in footnote 7 of my June 29 entry that the moles weren't visible on the wanted poster (or in other photos for that matter), but the image at right clearly shows what to look for. However, judging by how small they are they could easily be concealed by makeup.

Although there hasn't been any legitimate news since the summer, discussion on message boards such as 2channel (see Wikipedia's explanation of the service here) continues at a regular pace. While many of the comments are ridiculous, and sometimes offensive, it shows that the case is still in the public consciousness.

A selection of recent comments from a thread entitled 「市橋達也（英リンゼイさん殺害犯）を探し出す」("The Hunt for Tatsuya Ichihashi [Lindsay Hawker's Killer]"):


Oct. 7: There have been cases in the past where suspects hid out in Osaka² until the statute of limitations ran out.

Oct 23: I think the reason they can't find him is because someone's harbouring him.

Nov. 9: Stick to his parents' house, his friends and the original crime scene. I would tap their phones, monitor all his parents' bank accounts, seize his computer and investigate any associates he made on the internet. He escaped in sweat pants and bare feet -- he might have forced his way into a nearby apartment and killed the owner (which would be possible if it were a senior citizen or a single woman). That would be his only shot.

Nov. 26: Saikyô Line departing from Shinjuku (Ômiya-bound), 6:01pm train, front car.

Dec. 10: Ichihashi is a totally ugly, disgusting homo killer.

Dec. 11: If he's working or renting a room he must have shown some kind of ID. How's he doing it?




¹ Although Ichihashi is the prime suspect in Lindsay Hawker's murder, the official crime he is listed as being suspected of is "illegal disposal of a dead body," which is often the first charge in a murder case.

²One previous theory was that Ichihashi disappeared into Osaka's Kamagasaki flophouse district. Please refer to April 10th entry.