CHIBA - Tatsuya Ichihashi, the prime suspect in the 2007 murder of British woman Lindsay Hawker, ate for the first time Tuesday since his arrest two weeks ago, police said. Ichihashi, 30, ate a meal served at lunchtime at Gyotoku Police Station in Chiba Prefecture, a few hours before he was transferred to a detention facility inside the Chiba prison, which has doctors and nurses.
He had refused to eat since his Nov 10 arrest and health concerns prompted the Chiba prefectural police to file for court permission for his transfer. The police received permission on Tuesday morning.
During his transfer at around 3 p.m., Ichihashi was able to walk without any help and did not stagger, according to the police.
Ichihashi received a nutritional supplement injection on Nov 16 after he staggered when heading to an interrogation room from his cell inside the police station.
He continues to remain silent about the death of 22-year-old Hawker, as well as the charge of abandoning her body.
His arrest came after more than two-and-a-half years on the run on a technical charge of abandoning Hawker’s body in a sand-filled bathtub in his apartment in the Chiba Prefecture city of Ichikawa in March 2007.