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Sailor denies intent to kill taxi driver

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Navy Seaman Olatunbosun Ugbogu admitted Friday to stabbing a taxi driver last month in Yokosuka but denied having any intent to kill or rob the victim as the suspect attended a detention hearing at the Yokohama District Court.

Ugbogu, a 22-year-old Nigerian national who is being held over the fatal stabbing of Masaaki Takahashi, 61, also told the court that a voice in his head drove him to stab someone, while expressing his regret and offering an apology.

In explaining why he is being kept detained, Judge Ryosuke Shiota said there are ‘sufficient reasons” to suspect he committed the crime and cited the “possibility” of him trying to hide evidence and escaping from the scene of the crime.

The seaman’s lawyer called for examining his mental competency.

Ugbogu said he has been obsessed with voices since his high school days. He had earlier told his lawyer he had heard a voice ordering him to stab someone and that his victim could have been anybody.

The seaman, a crew member of the 7th Fleet guided-missile cruiser Cowpens, was arrested by Japanese police April 3 on suspicion of fatally stabbing Takahashi in his cab in Yokosuka on March 19 and failing to pay the cab fare totaling some 19,000 yen.