Tokyo court rejects Hawker killer's appeal
- 12 years ago
The family of murdered teacher Lindsay Hawker walk out of the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday after their daughter's killer's appeal was rejected.
Tatsuya Ichihashi was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Hawker in 2007, in a case that horrified Japan and sparked a media frenzy.
Ichihashi raped and killed the 22-year-old before burying her naked body in a sand filled bathtub in his apartment.
His lawyers appealed to reduce his sentence, claiming he had not intended to kill.
But the court rejected the appeal based on evidence that Ichihashi had choked his victim for three minutes, concluding that this showed intent to murder.
Ichihashi was arrested in 2009 after being on the run for nearly three years after a tip off by the plastic surgeon who worked on altering his face to help hide his identity.
Simon Hanna, Reuters. .
Tatsuya Ichihashi was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Hawker in 2007, in a case that horrified Japan and sparked a media frenzy.
Ichihashi raped and killed the 22-year-old before burying her naked body in a sand filled bathtub in his apartment.
His lawyers appealed to reduce his sentence, claiming he had not intended to kill.
But the court rejected the appeal based on evidence that Ichihashi had choked his victim for three minutes, concluding that this showed intent to murder.
Ichihashi was arrested in 2009 after being on the run for nearly three years after a tip off by the plastic surgeon who worked on altering his face to help hide his identity.
Simon Hanna, Reuters. .