The murder of Lindsay Anne Hawker is a case that captured international attention. Lindsay was a young British woman teaching English in Japan before her body was found buried in a bathtub filled with soil in two thousand and seven. The following manhunt would keep the perpetrator running for years and seeking out extreme measures to hide their identity.
My name is Ben and I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast.
The following podcast and material intended for a mature audience listener discretion. That was the slowest opening of a can I think in the history of our podcast.
I'm very rusty about.
Like, for ten seconds before we even actually had the podcast going, Nicole was struggling with that tab.
Are you going to put that on the video? Oh?
Definitely, it'll be on YouTube. You'll see the struggle for sure.
With my double chin problemly.
Trust me, we all have it. Why do you think I have a beer?
I haven't had a bevy on here for a while. No, you haven't gonna sit back and relax.
I'm sitting back sipping some water through straw.
Yeah, because you're having some issues.
I am having some issues. I don't know if you guys can hear it in my voice, but I've been sick a little bit last couple of days. I already feel like I'm getting better, but I pretty much lost my voice yesterday, so recovering a bit. Hopefully it don't sound too bad. Hopefully it don't fade too much as this episode goes on.
I know it's too bad. I wish I had an episode done, but I do not. Yeah, so I can't really help you out.
It's all good, though. I mean, I do have your support when I need it usually, and we also usually have the support of our patrons who are here thanking us all the time because they get the awesome behind the scenes and we are thanking them for being so amazing to us.
They sure do. They get some cool behind the scenes.
Actually they do. So this week we had a few awesome people sign up and we're going to give them a shout out. We had Jamie sign up, Michael B. Misty Smith, Chris and Carter than Drill. Thank you very much. You guys appreciate it so much. Yeah, they're getting all that good behind the scenes. The extra episode at the end of the month.
Yeah, and it's almost the end of the month it is.
So we got to get on that episode. I just realized maybe it's maybe we'll do the one where I was watching that documentary.
On Well, yeah, Ben's doing like the intro, and I was like, uh, I thought we were doing another case.
No, I just got a bunch of cases on the go all at once.
Yeah, you do this one sounds interesting, though.
I'm also reading a book for another case, which is it's a tough book. But uh yeah, that's besides the point. We'll touch on that one eventually.
Yeah, look at you, just working away.
Work work, work, work, work. I don't even know that song, but that's the only part of it I know. I don't even know who sings it or anything. It just work, work, work, work, that's all I got.
Yeah. I don't know what I can help you right now.
Actually yeah, yeah, I don't know anyways. So, yeah, this is the case of Lindsay and Hawker. Are you ready to dive into this one?
I guess so, I guess so. Yeah, Well for.
This one, we're gonna hop on a plane. We're gonna go all the way over to Japan. So buckle your seatbelts because here we go. So Lindsay and Hawker was born on December thirtieth, nineteen eighty four, in Conventory, England. She grew up in a loving family with two sisters and was known for her her smarts. Is known for her smarts not only though, but her kindness and adventurous spirit as well. On top of it all, Lindsay was very, very very smart. I said smart at the beginning, because
she is exactly that. I want to highlight that verse. She is incredibly smart. She actually graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in biology in two thousand and six. She also harbored a deep desire to explore the world, and she was very eagerly anticipating embarking on a global journey with her boyfriend, Ryan garsaid. So the two are just like, yeah, We're going to just go see the world together, which is adorable as fuck.
Yeah.
Yeah. So they planned to travel the world, you know, diving into whatever cultural experiences they could. Right However, before setting off in their adventure, Lindsay accepted a teaching position
in Tokyo, Japan, which would temporarily delay their plans. Being the fact that she's so smart, of course, she's going to be, you know, a teacher, right, So they agreed that Ryan would join her the following summer after she she did this role for a little while, at which point they would finally, you know, commence their long awaited
travels across the globe. So in two thousand and seven, at the age of twenty two, Lindsay arrived in Japan to begin her role at the Tokyo Nova Language School and quickly adapted to her new environment, making friends and enjoying the experiences of living abroad and of course keeping in touch with her parents and family and friends and.
Boyfriends and her boyfriend yeah, yep, And she.
Was doing great and ensuring everything's going good. She's safe, it's a fantastic place to be and all that sort of thing. She embraced all the challenges of living in a foreign country. She's enthusiastic about the opportunities. Like I said, they kept in close contact, where she kept in close contact with her family, you name it. Lindsay didn't know though, but soon her world would come crashing down. And it all occurred when she met an individual by the name
of Tatsuya Ichi Hashi. Now. Tatsuya was born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan in nineteen seventy nine. He came from a very well off family and was well educated, having attended Chu University of Tokyo. Despite his privileged background, though, Tatsuya led a bit of a troubled life, exhibiting antisocial behavior and showing signs of instability. He struggled to find his place in society and had a history of violent behavior, which
was known to some of his acquaintances. On the morning of March twenty first, in two thousand and seven, Lindsay was at a coffee shop near Guyotku train station in the eastern part of Tokyo. It was here that she would finally meet Tatsuya for the first time. Now, Tatsuya approached Lindsay and struck up a conversation while she was
sitting there at the coffee shop. He claimed that he wanted to learn English, and he presented himself as a prospective student and showed a keen interest in taking private English lessons from her. So right here, like they haven't met before, they don't know who each other are.
I was just wondering, I was gonna ask, does he know did he know her before?
No? But clearly he has some idea of who she is.
H Okay, Yeah, that's that's sort of unsettling.
Just a little bit. It's almost like he's been watching or something.
Yeah.
But by the sounds of this interaction, though, it sounds like he played it off like like almost like he recognized her, like as being an English teacher from somewhere, like I saw some articles where he claimed that he was like a student of hers or something along those lines. Already. Oh okay, and he was looking more for private lessons for anything. But she didn't recognize him or know who
he was so regardless. During their conversations together at the coffee shop, Tatsuya actually asked if you could sketch a portrait of her as well. Lindsay found this request a little bit unusual, but you know, she agreed.
Oh shit, man, this is the worst coffee shop encounter ever. I would be like, hell no, hell no, hell no no.
Well, I mean you can actually go online, you can see the sketch as well.
Oh my gosh. Can you just imagine some random person a like knowing what the fuck you do for a living and then be asking like if they can just draw you?
Well, I mean, by the sound like the way we're presenting it and looking at it from the outside, I'm sure it sounds rather obtuse, if you will, But put it this way, assume you're in Lindsay's shoes, and assume that you're trusting this guy that, yeah, he is a student at the place that you're teaching. Maybe they had a conversation and how he's passionate about not only learning other languages but also art as well, and then maybe she's like, Oh, that's awesome you doing art. What kind
of stuff do you do? He's like, Oh, I do like portrait sketches and stuff. I could draw you if you like. Is that okay? I'll draw you? Now? What if it's a casual conversation like that.
Yeah, still no, okay, okay, I would still be like no, fair enough, Like it just seems so weird to me.
Fair enough, I'm just trying to play devil's advocate here.
Yeah, I mean, like, at least let's go for coffee a second time and then maybe we'll chat about that.
Understandable. Well, she agreed instead of turning him down, and as he sketched, they continued to talk and he expressed his desire to improve his English skills. This interaction all seemed harmless and went rather professional, fitting into Lindsay's role as an English teacher right who often interacted with individuals interested in learning the language. A bit more so. After a while, Lindsay actually agreed to give him an English lesson,
a private one. So they arranged me in at his apartment on March twenty fifth, two thousand and seven for the lesson, meeting him outside of her regular teaching hours. Now I understand, especially Nicole's face right now, She's like, h, this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Really wasn't anything entirely unusual. A lot of English teachers in Japan offered private lessons to supplement their income, so it was kind of a normal thing to go to someone's place and actually teach them.
Okay, I feel like, yeah, the teaching thing and the private lesson seems totally fine. Yeah, But I feel like if they had just maybe done it in a public space like the coffee shop, well it might have been better.
I do mention a little bit later on when they actually do meet up, they did plan to meet at a coffee shop again first and then from there go to his apartment. Okay, So the plan is, yeah, we're going to meet up on this date. We're going to go to your apartment, but we're meeting at coffee shop again first. So we'll meet at the coffee shop, go to your apartment for the lesson.
I just mean doing the lesson entirely at the coffee shop would be a better idea, fair.
Enough, but that's not going to prevent anything sketchy from happening. Say on the second lesson in the apartment, then well.
I just mean forever doing the lesson now way, okay, okay, fair enough. I'm not going along with any of this Devil's Advocate stuff, am I.
No, you're not. But I mean, honestly, there's a lot of people who do I have a tutor lessons at home, not even just educational wise, but they think music lessons, piano lessons, yeah, something seeing lessons or whatever it is. Maybe true home inspectors go into your home and inspect like there's a lot of jobs. We covered the pizza murders not too long ago, where pizza delivery people come to your house.
Well, and I honestly I had a tutor when I was in high school, and they came to my house. There you go to teach me how to do math, because math is really hard.
Math do suck? Sometimes? Do be like that? Well, anyways, we digress on the dad lesson. Lindsay informed her boyfriend Ryan and her friends about the planned meeting and even provided Tatsuya's address as a precaution. So good on her, Yeah, it showed her her awareness for potential risk for sure. Now. What Lindsay didn't know, though, was that Tatsuya had a reputation for following foreign women and for being overly persistent in his attempts to engage with them, along with his
aforementioned violent behavior. So in March twenty fifth, two thousand and seven, Lindsay met Tatsuya as planned. They spent a little bit of time at their initial meeting place at the cafe, and then headed to his apartment thereafter. What exactly transpired within the confines of his apartment remains partially speculative, but the tragic outcome is well documented. Once Lindsay entered Tatsuya's home and the door was closed behind them, he
immediately struck. Tatsuya had planned this all out in his head, and he had prepared for the encounter by securing his apartment and ensuring that Lindsay would be isolated and unable to escape ship.
This is just a freaking worst nightmare.
Both individuals were now engaged in a fight, but for Lindsay it was a fight for her life. She did have a background in kickboxing and she knew how to defend herself well, but unfortunately she was no meant for Tatsuya, who also had a background and an extensive background in judo, and his skills allowed him to easily overpower her. Soon it would be noticed by Lindsay's colleagues and friends and boyfriend that something was wrong. She wasn't responding to messages
or calls. Her boyfriend Ryan specifically knew when she was supposed to be done it to Tetsuya's home and he hadn't been able to reach her. Concern quickly grew, and eventually a report was made that she was missing. Police were also provided information about the meeting and Tetsuya's address.
Luckily, and he probably didn't know that she had given this to anyone. Eh, I'm assuming no he did not. Okay, no, no good on her?
Yeah, no kidding? She that's huge and honestly that's played a huge role in this because if that wasn't the case, she could have who knows.
Yeah, I mean yeah, like sometimes jobs and stuff and just put you in a situation that unfortunately could turn like this. But I always think it's smart when someone provides an address of where they're going.
I agree. Now, I'm not too sure exactly on when the missing person's report was filed, but it would be the next day, on March twenty six, two thousand and seven, just one day after she was last seen and went to the meeting with Tatsuya. That the police went to his apartment. When they arrived and knocked on the door,
they were greeted by Tatsuya, who opened the door. However, upon him realizing that the police were there to investigate, he quickly fled the scene barefoot, managing to escape despite the presence of several officers.
Well, they weren't expecting that, No, they weren't. Holy shit, and obviously, like that's some serious suspicion right there right there. Yeah, that just run.
I agree. That also plays a huge part in this case. So upon the police entering the apartment looking for Lindsey, they managed to make a grim Discovery. Lindsay's body was found in a bathtub on the balcony. The bathtub was removed, I'm presuming it's like a claw foot bathtub style or something was removed and put onto the balcony. Her body was then laid in there and buried under a layer of sand and compost. It was his attempt to conceal her body and mask any odors.
Huh, that's a new one.
Yeah, definitely.
Holy shit.
Now, it also could be a different style of bathtub, because I know in Japan there's a lot of like small apartments and stuff, and so there's like collapsible bathtubs and like a lot of like different different living style gadgets and things. So I don't know if it's a claw foot bathtub specifically, but a tub of some sort that is, quote a bathtub she was found in.
Would that work? I don't think that would work. What do you mean, Like, it wouldn't conceal odor and like the body, I.
Imagine it would be supposing it would conceal a fair bit of odoor. Yeah, I imagine I could be wrong.
Wow.
I'm not saying it would be perfect, but I imagine it would mask quite.
A bit interest better than having that's brutal, a.
Decomposing body just laying in your bathroom, I.
Guess, but like I mean, I'm just visualizing to like someone else's balcony is like right beside, right, Yeah, you know.
So No, I don't think it was something that he would have gotten away with for long term, but at least it was a temporary solution that he was looking at. What he planned on doing after that, who knows.
Wow.
So, once her remains were uncovered, Lindsay's body showed signs of a brutal assault that had occurred the night before. She had been bound and gagged, and there were clear indications of physical trauma. The forensic examination later revealed that she had been violently sexually assaulted and beaten before finally being strangled to death.
What an absolute piece of shit.
I agree. Holy And a media and intense investigation, of course took place, and the police launched a massive man hunt for Tetsuya Ichihashi, and this would become a two and a half year long manhunt, one of the most intense and high profile ones in Japanese history.
He literally got what two and a half years.
He was on the run, maybe and a half two.
Weeks or something. Two days. Nope, gosh, okay, I'm actually okay, that's like making me angry here, I'm a little a little angry about this.
Well, in the intro, what did I say in the intro? Exactly?
I don't know. I can't remember.
Back to then, the following manhunt would keep the perpetrator running for years and seeking out extreme measures to hide their identity.
Okay, well, I think that in the intro you lost me when you said something about someone buried in a bathtub. After that I heard nothing.
Okay, fair enough, fair enough.
But yeah, honestly, that's because like they had him. They had him, they did so that's why that's just like such a pissof.
But the thing is, they weren't suspecting anything at that time. It was like, hey, when was the last time have you seen lindsay?
Oh? Okay, So if he had like just played it cool or whatever, they may not have even gone and searched his apartment.
At They might not have. I mean, honestly, I don't think they would have been able to search his apartments. They wouldn't have had a warrant. Yeah, I mean, I don't know what it's with laws are specifically in Japan, but I'm assuming it's going to be something along those similar lines, because you know, people have rights. Yeah, so maybe he was like, oh no, like she left at this time or something. Maybe that would have been the case,
but I don't know. If that would have been too long that that occurred, he wouldn't have gotten away with it still, right, it was probably turned around and come back in another day or two with a search warrant. Who knows what.
Right, Yeah, but.
Yeah. Now. The case quickly gained widespread media attention in Japan and internationally as well, partly do to the brutal nature of the crime and Lindsay's status as a foreigner living in Japan. The immediate search by police was extensive, focusing on locations where Tatsuya was known to frequent. The police received numerous tips from the public, but many of
these leads turned out to be false or inconclusive. I do like to like, we've covered cases before where we have a lot of tips coming from the public, some of them inconclusive or false or whatever. I don't care if false tips are coming in. I mean that sucks, it kind of bottles it up. But I don't think majority of them are probably not real false tips. It's like, oh I think that's him. Oh no, it's a mistaken sort of thing.
Yeah, they could legitimately think that's them.
But I love the effort that comes in from the public when the police received numerous tips, Like, fucking love it so much.
Well, yeah, there's been like lots of cases, and you know it solves them.
Yeah it does. It could be that key thing that solves the case. And spoiler alert, the public kind of did solve this, Okay, So yeah, no, it's tips coming in and all that sort of thing was a massive role in this case. There's so many pieces to cases, of course, but this one, it's like every piece played such a big role, and without the effort on every portion, it would not have happened. But we'll touch on that still. Now.
The intense media coverage of the case help keep it in the public eye, leading to a steady stream of information, but also making it difficult to discern these sort of things. I just kind of said that anyway, Sorry, that's what I happened.
Now.
Tatsuoa's life on the run was consistently a series of calculated moves designed to avoid detection at all costs. In the months following his escape, he moved frequently, staying in cheap, transient accommodations and avoiding any place where he might attract any sort of attention. He lived a solitary and paranoid existence, constantly where he's being recognized or captured at any moment, always looking over his shoulder.
Well, yeah, and that's that must be like a pretty shitty way to live.
Oh, I can only imagine.
But I mean, yeah, I don't know if that would be worse or being in jail. Really, I don't know.
Yeah, I can tell you he deserves to be in fucking jail.
Yeah, that much deserves more than that. Now.
To finance his life in the run, he took on various low profile jobs that did not require identification or background checks. He worked as day labor, often in construction or manual labor roles, which allowed him to blend in or earn money to survive whatever he needed. Right, his lifestyle was extremely frugal and caution, ensuring that he left
his little trace behind as possible. One of the most striking aspects of Tatsuya's time on the run was his efforts to change his appearance, understanding that his distinct features, you know, make him look recognizable just like any particular person. Right, there's wanted posters out there, there's news media printing like TV papers, magazines, you name it. So he took drastic measures to alter his looks. Over the course of his
fugitive life. He underwent multiple plastic surgery procedures that were both painful and risky. Now. Initially, he attempted to change his appearance though through non surgical means. Grewed his hair a beard, altered his clothing style, wore glasses or a hat, obscuring his face. Now. These superficial changes, though, were not enough to keep him hidden indefinitely, especially as police continued to release updates, new wanted posters and descriptions to the public,
constantly pushing. Just like the public's coming in constantly with tips, the police are constantly pushing, searching new updates consistently.
You know, I had never thought of this until you just told us this. But yeah, like, being able to grow facial hair changes how you look so drastically.
Yeah, if I were to shave my beard, no one.
Would fucking recognize you.
Nope, huh. If I shave my beard. If I took off my hat, shaved my beard, and went to the dollar store put on a pair of reading glasses, I bet you you wouldn't recognize me.
I know, yeah, but I mean, like I guess I have longer hair. If I cut my hair, it might drastically, but it wouldn't drastically change my appearance to the extent of like a beard versus non beard.
Well, a beard kind of covers half your face.
Yeah, so I never even thought of this.
Yep. So recognizing the need though for more significant changes other than just a beard or whatever.
Right, is that your plan why you have a beard?
Maybe?
Shit? Nice? Okay, sorry, I'm done.
When was there insurance policy?
Up?
I need to make sure we renew that.
Gosh, dangause you were very quick. Yeah. If I went to the dollar store, you know, got this, like, no one would know who I was.
I'm not saying I haven't hypothetically thought in the situations I have we do true crime for.
Like profession here, It's true.
It's something that your mind wanders and thinks about. Like we've had conversations even with friends, like hey, where would you hide a body? How would you get away? With it. These are things you just kind of talk about.
I know. So, I mean, I'm sure there's some people that don't.
Some people may not, that's true, that's true, But we definitely do. And I'm pretty sure the FBI listening through our computers and everything, looking at our search histories, just like, what the fuck We're on some sort of red list of radar. Yeah, anyways, we digress. He was wrecked. He was looking for more significant changes, so he eventually turned to plastic surgery. He started by actually performing some of the procedures on himself, using rudimentary tools and methods to
modify his facial features. These self administered surgeries including cutting and stitching part of his face to alter the shape of his nose and eyes.
Holy shit, I don't even know how you go about that.
So by the sounds of it to me, like think like cutting like a line underneath your eye or something and then stitching it tighter, things like that, lifting your eyebrows that way, you know, maybe cutting out a little triangle of skin and then stitching it close to lift Like that's kind of what I envision. Wow, So he was he was doing what he could. The results, of course, though, were. They're pretty crude. He's just doing this in like a
fucking bathroom at a gas station or something. Yes, right, so they're pretty crude and often left them in quite severe pain, but they were successful and making them less recognizable, though not not unidentifiable. Okay, So still, Tetsuya realized a professional surgery was necessary and it would provide more effective results, so he sought out underground clinics and unlicensed practitioners willing to perform the surgeries without asking any questions.
Wow, just everything fucking exists, doesn't it.
Oh? Yeah, everything. I'm sure if you're willing to pay for it, I'm sure you can find it somewhere out there in the which is horrible to think about.
Yeah, no kidding. Yeah.
So these underground operations, though of course, are dangerous for him, often resulted in complications, but they did allow him to significantly alter his appearance even further. He had his nose rey shaped, his eyelids altered, and various other modifications to his face. Now, through this man hunt, the Japanese police maintained a high level of pressure. That pressure I mentioned already, They continued it. They consistently updated the public with new
information and appealed for assistance in locating him. The media also played a crucial role in keeping the case in the spotlights. They're constantly bringing to the forefront. If you see anything, this is his picture, you know, updates, whatever it is, They're constantly pumping it out. So yeah, and Lindsay's family even did interviews. They flew into Japan to do interviews, and there's reconstructions of the crime scene and even the escape done for the public to have information
on this and everything. So the Hawker family, particularly Lindsay's parents, Bill and Julia Hawker, were instrumental in maintaining public interests and putting this pressure on authorities as well. Not only did they make just a trip to Japan to do some interviews, they made multiple trips to Japan doing interviews, press conferences, meeting with police, police officials, updating with them,
putting on that pressure. Like I'm sure they were just flying to Japan, showing up at the station being like, so, how's things going, wow, putting that heat on.
Well, and those poor people, like their daughter was so young.
Exactly, So, their persistent efforts kept the case from fading into obscurity one hundred percent. It ensured that Tatsuya remained a priority for the police.
Good. That's awesome of them, Like, I mean, they're grieving, but still like, you know, getting shit done.
Yeah. So I also mentioned earlier, the public played a big part. Thousands of tips were eventually received across the time span, with sightings reporting from various parts of Japan all across the country, and police followed up every single credible lead, sometimes deploying large teams to search the specific
areas as well. So as the man hunt progressed, the police began to narrow down their search based on patterns in these sightings, so they focused on areas where Tatsuya had been spotted multiple times and where his activity seemed to be most concentrated according to these sightings and tips.
Was he staying in the same city.
No, he wasn't staying in city. But Japan is a small place. Okay, yeah, so like it's Japan is a country. But I'm pretty like Japan is smaller than the province of British Columbia.
I'm pretty sure, so hmm, okay, but I mean it's big population though.
Oh yeah, yes. Now, this strategic approach gradually reduced the vast area that they actually needed to search across Japan. Being a small country. Still, like I said, that dense population, it's still vast in that sense, So narrowing it down in these in this way helped tremendously. Now, one of the key moments in the manhunt came when the police received information that to Tatsuya had been seen in Nagoya,
a major city in central Japan. Further investigation on this tip revealed that he had been living in the city's homeless community, where he was easily able to avoid detection. Police were now concentrating their efforts on this city and began setting up surveillance and undercover operations to try and track him down. Finally, all the efforts would pay off Awesome Tatsuya Ichi Hashi was finally captured on November tenth, two thousand and nine, at the oak Osaka Faery terminal.
He was attempting to board a faery in sorry a faerry to Okinawa when he was recognized by a fairy employee who had seen his updated wanted poster. The employee alerted the authorities that and Tetsuya was apprehended before he could even board.
The fairy nice.
The two year search had finally come to an end.
What an effort like this is I just I mean, I love here, Like I don't love these stories, but I love when there's like such a significant effort yees to like get this guy, make him pay for what the fuck he did.
And it's such significant effort in each area. The family kept pushing, the media kept pushing, the police kept pushing, the public kept pushing. Without any of those roles, this would probably not have come to fruition because he probably would have eventually been unrecognizable. I mean, if you look at his photo side by side, the two year gap, he to me is unrecognized.
Really, yes, holy shit, Okay, I'm gonna have to.
See this, Yes you are. But I mean there's there's some features there clearly where it's like, okay, yeah you can you can piece it together, and clearly some people were still able to see it. But yeah, if only given more time, it just would.
Have gotten yeah, holy and then he would have been a free man.
Yeah. So without that push on all fronts, this probably would be an unsolved case.
Well then also too, I just had this thought, like, without this immense pressure for him to be like he had this focus on how having to change himself right in his appearance and stuff. I feel like if he didn't have that, he would probably be doing a bunch of other bad shit. Oh probably right, in harming other people.
Probably So. Tatsuya's capture was a culmination of all these efforts, of course, but finally they brought him to justice. So following his arrest, he was subjected to extensive interrogation by police. Initially he was evasive and uncooperative, but by the way to the evidence against him, he eventually made a partial confession. He admitted to assaulting Lindsay, but he claimed her death was accidental.
Oh gosh.
Despite his claims, Tatsuya ichi Hashi was charged with Lindsay's murder, sexual assault, and confinement. His trial began in July of twenty eleven. Now, the trial was highly publicized, drawing significant media attention both in Japan and internationally, and the courtroom was filled with journalists, legal experts, and members of the public,
all eager to see justice finally be served. So on July fourth, twenty eleven, at the opening of his trial at the Chibia District Court, Tatsuya ichi Hashi addressed Lindsay an Hawker's family directly. In a highly emotional moment, he walked into the courtroom and bowed deeply towards Lindsay's parents, Bill and Julia Hawker, who were present in the courtroom.
This act of bowing, which is a traditional Japanese gesture of apology and respect, was his attempt to show remorse for his action and to seek forgive forgiveness from Lindsay's grieving family. The Hawker family, of course, had mixed reactions to this gesture. While some might interpret the bow as a sincere expression of regret, Lindsay's parents were primarily focused
instead on achieving justice for their daughter. They maintained their dignity and composure throughout the trial, and reports show that anytime Tetsuja bowed towards them, they did not face him, showing that they did not accept whatever apology he was attempting to make.
Oh, yeah, that's actually really tough, because I don't know. I mean, there was a difficult different culture, and bowing like means more significance over there. But gosh, I don't know, that would be hard. I'm having trouble like that would be hard. I'm glad they stood their ground because I don't feel like he deserves the forgiveness. Ah, that's so hard though.
I have one one response to the parents reaction to this bow.
Yeah, because why should he feel better for his actions and what he did? Like, he agreed he took their daughter away.
So he can be remorseful as what he wants, he wants to, He can apologize as much as he wants to. They can accept the apology as much as they want to. All of that is totally fine by me. It doesn't change anything.
It doesn't bring Lindsay back.
And them not acknowledging it, I think, is a reminder that.
It doesn't change Yeah. So yeah, wow.
Now.
The prosecution presented a very compelling case in the courtroom. One of the key pieces of evidence was the testimony of forensic experts who examined the crime scene and of course Lindsay's body as well. Their analysis revealed that Lindsay had been subjected to a prolonged violent attack. Ultimately, she succumbed to the struggle and had been exphyxiated. Marx and
her body indicated she had been sure sorry. Marx and her body indicated she had struggled fiercely, suggesting that a deliberate and sustained attempt to sedue her occurred, and the presence of Tatsuya's DNA at the scene and on Lindsay's body showed his potential motivation. The autopsy also ultimately helped point towards premeditation. The prosecution argued that Tatsuya had planned
the attack. His efforts to conceal Lindsay's body in a bathtub filled with sand and compost demonstrated a clear intention to hide the crime, which indicated this premeditation. Also, Tatsuya's actions following Lindsay's death, including his escape and prolonged division from the police. As we mentioned when he ran out initially, this is a key part of it. They were used to illustrate his consciousness of guilt, His drastic measures excuse me.
His drastic measures to alter his appearance to plastic surgery further supported this guilt argument. Tatsuya's defense attempted to argue that Lindsay's death was the result of a botched attempt to restrain her and that he did not intend to kill her. Despite the defense's attempt to downplay the actions of Tatsuya, no one was buying it.
Yeah, I don't know about that, because what so what he was going to do these terrible things to her and then watch just let let her go, let her go? Yeah right, so that doesn't I don't know that's going.
To be the case.
This is just brotal. It is holy shit.
I think my voice is just getting raspier. Sorry, I'm apologizing to you guys right now. We're gonna get through this. We're almost there.
You're doing good. Like that's a hard place to be in.
Yeah, we already turned the show off for a moment once because out of coughing. But anyways, moving on. In July of twenty eleven, tatsu Itchi Hashi was found guilty good all charges and was sentenced to life in prison.
Okay, yep, I mean that's deserved.
Yeah, that's what I wanted to hear. When I was researching this case. I'm like, you'd better be fucking behind bars.
Is there a fucking butt? I feel like you're about to say some like a butt?
Well, I mean everyone has a butt.
Well you know what I mean? That like something happens, Well, let.
Me tell you. The aftermath of Lindsay Ann Hawker's case saw a profound impact on both her family and the broader community. Her parents, Bill and Julia Hawker continue to honor Lindsay's memory through advocacy by raising awareness about the safety of immigrants. The case prompted increased dialogue about the protection and support of foreign nationals in Japan. Tatsuya is currently held in the Chiba Prison, a high security facility
known for housing serious offenders. He reportedly spends his days in reflection, expressing remorse through his actions, through written work, and attempting to seek some form of atonement for the brutal crime he committed of taking the life of Lindsay and Hawker.
Okay, there's no butts.
There's no butts.
I was reading you wrong because I was like, good God, there can't.
Be There's no butts, no if ens or butt. But no. He was found guilty. He did the crime. He is doing the fucking time he deserves, and even when he gets out, not only will he fucking have that guilt feeling on the inside every time he fucking looks in a mirror for the rest of his life, he's gonna see those fucking scars on his face that remind him of Lindsey and what he fucking did brutal.
You know. And it also I just feel like that she wasn't the first one either for some reason.
I don't know.
I mean, well, he had a violent like past, right, so maybe he's done other things, maybe not necessarily killed somebody, but definitely changed someone's life.
Yeah, potentially. And I don't know the extent of his quote like violent tendencies, I'm not too sure, but he definitely we do know he seemed to follow around foreign individuals into Japan, so he's looking at, you know, whoever's coming in and this has following around and being very pushy towards him. Maybe this was the first that he got pushy. If it was, that's that is a pretty extreme jump, especially considering that we're pretty sure the moment that door closed is when the attack occurred.
And here she was just wanting to help someone, you know, like better themselves, right, you wanted to learn and yeah, she was.
In Japan because she wanted to go travel the world, and she was talking to him because she wanted to teach people.
Yeah, what a loss. That is a that's a big time loss. I feel like for this world totally.
It is. So that is a case of Lindsay and Hawker.
Mm hmm, yeah, well well done, thank you and impressive that she got through that with a cold, because that's that's not easy.
It's not really a cold, not sniffing, it's just my throat.
Yeah, generally it's me. I feel like that has lost their voices in the past for cases.
I think so. I think this is the first time I've actually been like having voice issues on the podcast.
Every time I get sick, I always lose my voice. Here's like to hoping that I don't catch whatever the hell you had.
I'm pretty sure I got it from you.
I don't see how Miami system is. Shit, it's like garbage.
Yeah, but I'm what do I do all day? I just sit at home all day doing research. I barely leave our tiny home. You're the one who goes out with clients, Dan your photography. Shit, I'm pretty sure you went out in public brought it home to me.
I don't know.
It just got me sick.
Maybe you got it while we were away, but you still have gotten something from when we were away.
I don't think so. Okay, I really don't think so.
I don't know.
I don't think it was me because it was me, I'd be sick too.
Yeah. Fair. Anyways, if you guys enjoy this episode, we really appreciate you staying here, and we want you to give us a rating that we'd appreciate that in return, give us a five star, one star, whatever you feel is appropriate. If you want to check out our links all in the description of this podcast, they're all down there.
We are slowly getting caught up, and I'm expecting with the next week or two we will be fully caught up with putting video podcasts on our YouTube channel, so you can see Nicole's reaction and me doing tan jeess to the camera and yeah, it's all there on YouTube, so you can go check it out.
Yeah you do. I actually do hand gestures too.
I feel like you do hand gestures when you're trying to open a can for like ten fifteen seconds and you're really struggling.
Yeah, that would be interesting to watch.
That's going to go on YouTube for sure.
Please, no, yes, any any well, anywell, well, any good job you need to like, you know, have crossed my voice of sorts.
I'm going to go make a like a nice warm tea or something.
I didn't pick up any more. Ginger though, dude.
That's we got regular to okay, Okay, I don't have to have like some ginger concoction just to tea is fine.
One second, okay, when we're okay, we're done, when we're ill. This is like such a nice thing I make this drink. It's I usually do like half a lemon, like lemon juice, sorry, and then a teaspoon or so of honey, and then I put a chunk of like raw ginger in there, like with warm hot water or whatever, and it like actually is quite nice.
I do recommend you treat that chunk of ginger like a tea bag, though, take it out after a while, because that ginger gets.
See I love ginger. When I make that for myself, I can barely fucking taste the ginger.
Like I love ginger too, don't get me wrong. But yeah, when I'm like halfway through my tea, it's like, oh my god, nothing but ginger.
Okay. See, I don't have that ever anyway. When I have sushi, I put all the ginger on there. It's damn good.
I put all the with sabi on. When we get sushi, she takes the ginger. I take it with sabi.
Okay, if you made it this far, you're the real MVP.
Yeah you are, no kidding. Okay, well we'll We'll talk to you guys next week, and until then, stay wicked.