Detective leading Lindsay Ann Hawker murder probe is replaced
Mar 11 2009 by Christina Savvas, Birmingham Post
The detective who led the inquiry into the murder of a young Warwickshire teacher found strangled in an apartment in Japan has been replaced, just days after an investigation by TV programme makers.
The body of 22-year-old Lindsay Ann Hawker, from Brandon, near Coventry, was discovered in a bath of sand and soil on the balcony of an apartment in March 2007.
Tatsuya Ichihashi, the only suspect in the investigation, has not been seen since and police have faced criticism for failing to bring justice in the case.
Following an investigation by BBC Inside Out, Shinya Oguma, who headed up the Japanese police inquiry has been removed from the position.
Despite the prime suspect escaping from nine police officers in bare feet, Mr Oguma said his officers had done their job properly.
He said: “When the investigators visited the flat they didn’t know what had happened to the victim and they even didn’t know the victim had been murdered. Therefore the investigators faced a difficult judgement about how to treat it. Under the circumstances I think those investigators acted according to the regulations.”
The investigation has brought fresh questions about the effectiveness of police inquiry.
Inside Out tracked down Yoshiaki Ishizuka, the taxi driver who drove Lindsay and Ichihashi back to his apartment on the day she was killed.
Ishizuka’s evidence that, despite the rain, he was asked to stop a long way short of Ichihashi’s home, raises concerns over the police belief Lindsay’s murder was not premeditated.
He said he remembers what happened clearly. “This is the road I took on that day with these two people,” he added. In the car they were not talking at all. Along here Ichihashi said, here is fine. The light was green, so I just crossed the street and then I stopped the car and I dropped them. He said wait four or five minutes but that day was rainy and it was quite busy, so I couldn’t wait for him so I just gave him a receipt.”
His account contradicts reports that Ichihashi and Lindsay were dropped off right outside the apartment, in full view of its CCTV cameras.
But despite these inconsistencies, the police have never shown any of the reported CCTV footage to the taxi driver.
The police have refused to discuss the CCTV footage and initially would not disclose reasons for replacing Mr Oguma. Eventually they said the reason was the “regular transfer of police officers”.
Bill Hawker, Lindsay’s father, who is due to travel to Tokyo this month to mark the second anniversary of Lindsay’s death, said: “Every day is hard for us. My life will never be the same again. We want justice for Lindsay. Each day goes by and sometimes I feel like never getting up. But we have to keep getting up, we have to keep finding a little bit more about how this could’ve happened.”
Mr Hawker and his wife Julia will be making a number of TV appeals and will also be filming a documentary during the trip. The couple have two other daughters Lisa and Louise.
Inside Out will be shown on BBC One tonight at 7.30pm.
