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Police in Fukuoka are investigating the death of an American woman whose body was found in a hotel on Monday morning.
The woman was married to a U.S. serviceman who has been taken into custody by the U.S. Navy, NHK reported.
According to police, an employee of the hotel called 110 at around 9:20 a.m. Monday and said a woman may have committed suicide in a room.
Police officers who rushed to the scene found the woman collapsed in the room and she was confirmed dead. Police said there were signs of external injury and that the body was fully clothed.
On Tuesday, Fukuoka prefectural police and the U.S. Navy confirmed that the deceased woman was an American citizen and the wife of a U.S. serviceman at Sasebo Base in Nagasaki Prefecture.
Police said hotel security camera footage showed the woman and a man, believed to be her husband, checking into the hotel at around 7 p.m. on Oct 25, and the man leaving alone on the morning of Oct 27.
The U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the incident. The Fukuoka police investigation is limited due to the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which grants the U.S. military priority.
The U.S. Navy has not disclosed the man's affiliation or rank.
© Japan Today
4 Comments
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Five Families
If proven the worst.
An American service member murdering his spouce? Totally unacceptable!
You would bring shame on America and the uniform you represent.
Domestic violence on woman in the modern age can not be tolerated. Not any longer.
Woman are to be cherished and loved. Cared for and revered at all times.
The NCIS unit in Sasebo is one of the best. Swift justice for her, if murder is proven.
piskian
Sad story
Let's not speculate.
WoodyLee
May her and many others like her who are victims of the Evils among us RIP. Not a single day passes by without people falling victims to these monsters.
Garthgoyle
If the crime was committed within Japanese soil, wouldn't the jurisdiction belong to Japanese police?
David Brent
Smart that he had the sense to make it back to the American base instead of getting arrested by the Japanese police.
Legrande
Predictable partisan replies here.
USNinJapan2
Garthgoyle
It could, but the Japanese police will often relinquish investigative jurisdiction to the U.S. side when the crime doesn't involve a non-SOFA victim, as in this case. In other words, they don't consider a crime committed between/among U.S. Forces personnel to be worth investigating and prosecuting, even if it was heinous, happened off the base, and wasn't duty related. Basically, a victimless crime as far as they're concerned. Pretty sad when you think about it.