A man closely resembling the suspect wanted in connection with the murder of a British woman has been frequently spotted in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, police said.
Chiba Prefectural Police have received about 40 pieces of information in which witnesses said they saw in Ikebukuro a man resembling Tatsuya Ichihashi, 29, who is wanted in connection with the murder of Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22.
The witnesses said a man whose eyes and other characteristics closely resembled Ichihashi had frequently visited a pachinko parlor, a hotel and restaurants near JR Ikebukuro Station since right after the murder of Hawker in March last year up until recently.
The investigation headquarters at the prefectural police has also found that Ichihashi, an unemployed man from Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, had visited Ikebukuro with an acquaintance before the slaying took place.
Presuming that Ichihashi may still be in the Ikebukuro area, police have deployed a large number of investigators to the district, trying to get information on the suspect from restaurants, hotels and adult-entertainment shops in the area.
The body of Hawker, who was an English teacher at a private language school, was found in a bath tub on the balcony of Ichihashi's apartment in Ichikawa in March last year. Ichihashi, who was Hawker's private student, has been on the run since the body was found.
After the murder, the prefectural police publicized a facial photo of Ichihashi, as well as an image of him in the disguise of a woman, and Ichihashi's hand-drawn picture of Hawker, leading to more than 3,000 pieces of information on the suspect being submitted by the public to prefectural police.
The National Police Agency (NPA) will pay a reward up to 1 million yen to anyone who provides information that could lead to the arrest of Ichihashi before June.
People with information on the suspect can call the investigation headquarters at: 047-397-0110.
一方、これまでの調べで、市橋容疑者が事件前に知人と池袋を訪れていたことも判明。このため、捜査本部は池袋に土地勘があり、事件後も訪れている可能性があるとみて、捜査員を集中的に投入。飲食店やホテル、風俗店での聞き込みなどを進めている。
捜査本部は１４１人態勢で臨んでおり、市橋容疑者が女装して潜伏している可能性もあるとみて、女装写真も作成して公開。また、絵を描くことが趣味だった市橋容疑者がリンゼイさんを以前描いたデッサンも公開している。これまで、池袋での目撃も含め、３０００件以上の情報が寄せられている。
警察庁も逮捕につながる情報の提供者に、今年６月まで最大１００万円を支払うことにしている。情報は県警の捜査本部（電話０４７・３９７・０１１０）で受け付けている。【山本太一】
【ことば】リンゼイさん殺害事件
千葉県船橋市に住んでいた英国籍の英会話学校女性講師、リンゼイさんが行方不明になり、千葉県警の捜査員がリンゼイさんの個人レッスンを受けていた同県市川市の市橋容疑者の自宅を訪問して、ベランダにあった浴槽内で遺体を発見した。この時、市橋容疑者は自宅にいたが、捜査員を振り切って逃走した。県警は死体遺棄容疑で市橋容疑者を指名手配し、捜査員延べ４万５０００人を投入して行方を追っている。
March 26, 2008
Mainichi
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