The National Police Agency said Thursday it will divide ¥10 million in cash rewards among four parties for providing information that led to the arrest of Tatsuya Ichihashi, the suspect in the 2007 murder of Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker.
The payments are the first since the state-funded rewards debuted in April 2007. The NPA didn't identify the recipients to protect their privacy.
Ichihashi, 30, was arrested on Nov. 10 in Osaka after more than 2 1/2 years on the run. A formal indictment was filed against him Wednesday on two counts of murder and rape in connection with the death of the 22-year-old English instructor in March 2007.
The Chiba Prefectural Police selected from among those who provided valuable information, weighing how each piece of information helped lead to Ichihashi's arrest.
The NPA is thought to have considered as recipients a clinic in Nagoya that provided a photo of Ichihashi after he had plastic surgery, and a ferry company employee in Osaka who made an emergency call saying that a man resembling Ichihashi had tried to buy a ticket.