Two years after murder by ex-Marine, wounds of the bereaved family have yet to heal
On the afternoon of the 26th at the site where the woman’s body was abandoned in Onna Village, Okinawan residents still offer flowers to mourn the victim.
April 27, 2018 Ryukyu Shimpo
As of April 28, it has been two years since it occurred that a U.S. military contractor sexually assaulted and murdered a woman in the central part of Okinawa Island.
On the 26th an attorney who represents the family of the deceased released a document in which the family expressed their present state of mind: “We still think of our daughter and pray for her departed soul.”
The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial. However, he carried his appeal to a higher court, and the appeal trial will be held in the Fukuoka High Court Naha Branch in June through to July.
The wounds of the bereaved family have not yet healed.
In March this year, the bereaved family submitted a bill to the Okinawa Defense Bureau to request compensation for damages from both the US and Japanese governments according to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). However, the United States refuses to pay because the US military did not directly employ the defendant.
According to the first trial, in April 2016 the defendant assaulted a woman going for a walk in Uruma City with the intention of murdering her, hit her on the head with a bar, strangled her with both hands, and stabbed her several times in the neck with a knife.
The body of the woman was abandoned in the mountains in Yafuso, Onna Village.
He attempted to rape her but failed.
In the process, the woman died.
He is accused of murder and sexual assault resulting in death.
Before the trial the defendant denied having intent to murder and told Stars and Stripes, a news bulletin associated with the U.S. military, that he would speak in court in detail.
However, in the first trial at Naha District Court, he exercised his right to remain silent and refused to make a statement.
(English translation by T&CT and Megumi Chibana)
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