Slain Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker's hair had been cut and her hands and feet bound with ropes when her corpse was found buried in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of murder suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi's apartment in Chiba Prefecture in March 2007, investigative sources revealed Friday.
Chiba Prefectural Police believe Ichihashi, 30, tied her up with polyester rope before raping her and cutting her hair, and prepared the sand and the tub to conceal her body and the smell of her decomposing corpse, the sources said, noting the rope is sold at many stores.
The police discovered an empty bag for the sand for gardening, and long tufts of hair of hair in a trash bin at Ichihashi's apartment when they found the body of Hawker, 22, the sources said.
Ichihashi was sent to prosecutors Friday from Chiba Prison and was served with a fresh arrest Wednesday warrant for Hawker's rape-murder.
He was initially held at a police station but was transferred to the prison due to health concerns because he had refused food for two weeks following his arrest.
Ichihashi was arrested Nov. 10 in Osaka after being on the run for 32 months. He was initially indicted on the technical charge of abandoning a corpse.
He has been eating since the transfer and has gained weight compared with when he was initially arrested, according to the investigative sources.
Ichihashi fled from officers on the evening of March 26, 2007, when they went to his apartment based on information provided by Hawker's roommates. They subsequently found the victim, whom the suspect had allegedly stalked.