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The Case of Tatsuya Ichihashi
He self-performed plastic surgery to escape from the police after he murdered an English teacher.
Many want to truly immerse themselves in a different culture, not just for a week trip. And, given the great demand for English teachers in Japan (before the pandemic) and how high the country ranked in safety, it is no wonder many expats flocked to that country.
Lindsay Hawker was one of them.
Lindsay Hawker
22-year-old Lindsay Hawker was born in Coventry, England. She graduated with first-class honor in Biology from the University of Leeds. She had plans to continue with her masters, but first, she wanted to explore the world. Like many others, she decided to work as an English teacher in Japan for a year.
Tatsuya Ichihashi
Born in 1979, Tatsuya Ichihashi was born with a good familial background, his father being a doctor and his mother being a dentist. Even though Tatsuya graduated from the University of Chiba in 2005, he decided to live off his parents, where he reportedly received an approximate allowance of ¥100,000 monthly.
Tatsuya did not have any criminal priors, but allegedly he did rob and assaulted a man, but that case was settled with a little ‘hush money’ from his parents.
Tatsuya was known to be a loner. He did have great physical stamina as he loved his workouts and cycled 25km daily.
The First Meeting
On March 20, 2007, Lindsay Hawker was on her way home after her English teaching job at Nova school. She met 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihashi, who claimed that he was one of her students, but she denied it. She tried to cycle away, but Tatsuya was persistent. Athletically fit, he ran after her to her apartment. Out of breath, he asked if he could get a glass of water.
Since this stranger now knows where she lived, she believed it was best to let Tatsuya in her apartment and made sure to introduce him to her housemates. It was a precautionary step to…
