Name: Saitama News 2006-03-03 8:33
Saitama police officer gives up -- There is no hope for Saitama
SAITAMA, Saitama -- A police officer died Friday morning after shooting himself the head while on duty in a police box here Thursday night, local police said.
At around 11:20 p.m., officers found a 51-year-old assistant inspector lying in the lavatory of a police box in front of Saitama Station on the Tsukuba Express Line, bleeding from his head, officials at the local police stations said. He was rushed to a hospital where he died Friday morning.
A gun belonging to the assistant inspector was found on the floor of the police box and one bullet had been fired from the weapon.
Suspecting that he killed himself, local police are investigating the motives for his suicide. No suicide note has been found.
The assistant inspector began his shift at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday. Two officers returned to the police box after completing their patrol in the neighborhood and found the front door had been locked.
Saitama Internet assassination service shut down by government
SAITAMA, Saitama -- A man arrested for carrying out a contract killing here in December last year has come under suspicion of attempting to carry out another murder a young woman allegedly hired him for, police said.
Saitama Prefectural Police plan to serve the man, Naoya Katayama, 36, a fresh arrest warrant accusing him of preparing for murder.
Police have arrested the woman, Chisato Nishikawa, 20, on suspicion of the same crime.
Investigators said Nishikawa posted a message on the Internet at the end of December last year, asking for her 17-year-old brother to be killed. Katayama responded to the message, and Nishikawa allegedly showed him 500,000 yen she would pay him for carrying out the crime.
Katayama allegedly posed as one of the 17-year-old's friends, and called him out of his dormitory on Jan. 4 this year.
Police seized Katayama's computer during their investigation into the Matsumoto killing, and judged from communication records that he had received a request to carry out another killing.
When police investigated the alleged request, they reportedly found that Nishikawa had posted a message on the Internet saying, "There's someone I want to get revenge on. I want someone to cooperate." They are continuing to investigate her motives.
Government official wrestled down by Saitama otaku
SAITAMA, Saitama -- A prefectural government official was arrested for molesting a woman on a train early Friday, police said.
Hisahito Wachi, 31, an official of the Ryugasaki civil engineering office of the Saitama Prefectural Government, is accused of violating the prefectural ordinance prohibiting people from creating a nuisance. He admitted to the allegations during questioning, investigators said.
Wachi fondled a 31-year-old woman's legs through her skirt on a JR Joban Line local train at around 1 a.m. on Friday, local police said. An otaku who spotted the incident overpowered Wachi and handed him over to police officers after the train stopped at Saitama Station.
Father-substitute rejected by 11 y.o. Saitama woman
SAITAMA — A 32-year-old man was sentenced to 17 years in prison Thursday for raping and sexually abusing girls after finding from official resident registries in Saitama that they live in fatherless homes, a case that has prompted the local government to tighten rules on public access to resident registry data.
Makoto Muto, who was unemployed, visited houses and apartments in the city pretending to be a debt collector or an official of another profession and sexually abused seven girls aged between 11 and 14 from June 2002 to February 2005, according to the ruling at the Saitama District Court.
SAITAMA, Saitama -- A police officer died Friday morning after shooting himself the head while on duty in a police box here Thursday night, local police said.
At around 11:20 p.m., officers found a 51-year-old assistant inspector lying in the lavatory of a police box in front of Saitama Station on the Tsukuba Express Line, bleeding from his head, officials at the local police stations said. He was rushed to a hospital where he died Friday morning.
A gun belonging to the assistant inspector was found on the floor of the police box and one bullet had been fired from the weapon.
Suspecting that he killed himself, local police are investigating the motives for his suicide. No suicide note has been found.
The assistant inspector began his shift at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday. Two officers returned to the police box after completing their patrol in the neighborhood and found the front door had been locked.
Saitama Internet assassination service shut down by government
SAITAMA, Saitama -- A man arrested for carrying out a contract killing here in December last year has come under suspicion of attempting to carry out another murder a young woman allegedly hired him for, police said.
Saitama Prefectural Police plan to serve the man, Naoya Katayama, 36, a fresh arrest warrant accusing him of preparing for murder.
Police have arrested the woman, Chisato Nishikawa, 20, on suspicion of the same crime.
Investigators said Nishikawa posted a message on the Internet at the end of December last year, asking for her 17-year-old brother to be killed. Katayama responded to the message, and Nishikawa allegedly showed him 500,000 yen she would pay him for carrying out the crime.
Katayama allegedly posed as one of the 17-year-old's friends, and called him out of his dormitory on Jan. 4 this year.
Police seized Katayama's computer during their investigation into the Matsumoto killing, and judged from communication records that he had received a request to carry out another killing.
When police investigated the alleged request, they reportedly found that Nishikawa had posted a message on the Internet saying, "There's someone I want to get revenge on. I want someone to cooperate." They are continuing to investigate her motives.
Government official wrestled down by Saitama otaku
SAITAMA, Saitama -- A prefectural government official was arrested for molesting a woman on a train early Friday, police said.
Hisahito Wachi, 31, an official of the Ryugasaki civil engineering office of the Saitama Prefectural Government, is accused of violating the prefectural ordinance prohibiting people from creating a nuisance. He admitted to the allegations during questioning, investigators said.
Wachi fondled a 31-year-old woman's legs through her skirt on a JR Joban Line local train at around 1 a.m. on Friday, local police said. An otaku who spotted the incident overpowered Wachi and handed him over to police officers after the train stopped at Saitama Station.
Father-substitute rejected by 11 y.o. Saitama woman
SAITAMA — A 32-year-old man was sentenced to 17 years in prison Thursday for raping and sexually abusing girls after finding from official resident registries in Saitama that they live in fatherless homes, a case that has prompted the local government to tighten rules on public access to resident registry data.
Makoto Muto, who was unemployed, visited houses and apartments in the city pretending to be a debt collector or an official of another profession and sexually abused seven girls aged between 11 and 14 from June 2002 to February 2005, according to the ruling at the Saitama District Court.