Report: Sailor admitted killing taxi driver - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Report: Sailor admitted killing taxi driver

YOKOHAMA — A 22-year-old U.S. sailor who is being held on suspicion of desertion has admitted to killing a Japanese taxi driver in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in March, Japanese police sources said Tuesday.

The police are planning to question the man, currently being held by the U.S. Navy at the naval base in Yokosuka, on Wednesday and if they believe they can build a case against him they will request an arrest warrant on murder and other charges, the sources said.

In line with a bilateral agreement, Japan will then request the pre-indictment transfer of the serviceman, they said.

Taxi driver Masaaki Takahashi, 61, was found stabbed to death in his cab on a street in Yokosuka on March 19. A credit card was found inside the cab and its owner was identified as the U.S. serviceman.

The man is a seaman and member of the crew of the U.S. 7th Fleet’s cruiser Cowpens, based at Yokosuka. He had not returned to the base since early March and was seized by Navy personnel in Tokyo’s Gotanda area on March 22.

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