Police were first aware that Lindsay Ann Hawker was missing on March 26, 2007, after the Briton failed to teach English classes scheduled for two consecutive days. They found her naked body buried in a bathtub filled with sand and compost soil on Tatsuya Ichihashi's apartment's balcony that evening.
Ichihashi, 28 at the time, met Hawker around midnight on March 20, 2007, on a Tozai Line train. He ran after her as she cycled home from Nishi-Funabashi Station to her apartment and asked her to give him a private English lesson. He was very persistent. Court documents show he drew a sketch of Hawker on a piece of paper, signing it with his name, phone number and email address.
After a few exchanges by email, the two agreed to meet for a lesson on March 25. At the end of the lesson around 10 a.m., the killer claimed he didn't have enough cash on him — ¥3,500 — to pay and invited Hawker back to his home near Gyotoku Station in Chiba Prefecture in order to pick up the fee.