U.S. sailor allegedly hinted at his involvement in killing taxi driver in Yokosuka

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

U.S. sailor allegedly hinted at his involvement in killing taxi driver in Yokosuka

Yokosuka Police on March 31 said that a former sailor from the U.S. Navy Yokosuka Base implied that he had been involved in the killing of a tax driver in Yokosuka on March 19.

According to the police investigators, soon after the incident, the sailor called a friend of his and said that he may have been involved in the murder.

Police plan to ask the U.S. military to permit a voluntary interrogation of the sailor, sources said.

The 61-year-old tax driver, Takahashi Masaaki, was found dead on March 19, with a knife on his neck. A credit card with the name of the 22-year-old sailor, who had been held on the base in charge of committing desertion, was found in the taxi.

The sailor reportedly had fled the base for about three weeks before he was held and detained by the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on March 22 in Tokyo. Initially, the sailor denied his role in the killing of the taxi driver, the U.S. military said.

- Akahata, March 22, April 1, 2008