If Tatsuya Ichihashi continues to refuse food and refuse to talk about the murder of Lindsay Ann Hawker, what do you think prosecutors should do?

of course let him starve no, he must face his punishment, as previously reported, he is trying to control the situation, he is not in control, he must face justice, so they will have to give him the IV

hang him just before he dies of starvation?

Solitary confinement & force feeding baby food till he talks.

I would force him to watch the new Yukie Nakama dorama over and over -I know that is a bit harsh, but that is all I could think of at the moment. -Ask me later.

I suppose continue as till now: Keep Ichihashi under tight police surveillance and conduct regular medical checkups to make sure his vitals don't weaken and he remains healthy enough to stand trial. If his body begins to weaken, then IV drips may be used. If he continues to refuse food, then there's always the alternative of tube-feeding performed at a hospital. Meanwhile prosecutors may build their case based on physical proof and a careful investigation regarding Ichihashi previous to capture: where did he go and how, his contacts, debit and/or credit cards they may have found in his wallet and where did his money come from. Interview former co-workers. Not all depends on Ichihashi talking (yes, I know police in Japan is said to rely on confessions rather than on hard evidence, but still). It's his defense that may want him to talk rather than the prosecutors. After all, his case and culpability seem (so far) to be understood from the evidence he left behind when he fled. His activities during his time eluding Japanese justice do not speak in his favor either.

Put him on trial. Let's see if he speaks up to defend himself against the charges.

If he wants to die of starvation then so be it. If he thinks he is going to get the death penalty because he is guilty, then I see no difference between starvation, hanging or the electric chair, dead is dead.

Ram a pizza down his throat with a stick or just let him die there...

Put various food stalls outside his window. Different ones every day. Ones with strong food smells to make his rancid mouth water. Put cooking shows on a tv in the room he's in for 18 hours a day. Eat food in front of him, but not in an exaggerated way, just a normal way. And make sure he can actually help himself to food during the day.

Happy though the thought of him starving painfully to death makes me, I'd rather give him a chance to incriminate himself by trying to make feeble excuses. He's bound to put his foot in it once he starts talking, which is the main reason for his silence. (That and the fact that he's sulking, of course.) If he starves to death that's up to him, but make it as hard and long-drawn-out as possible.

If he insists on a self-inflicted death sentence, make it his own fault. And video him 24/7, never mind just during interrogations. If he does kill himself it'll help exonerate the cops from blame.

i would call chuck norris and he would do the job.

Wont eat? leave it be, let him waste away. Wont talk?, charge him and try him based on the evidence and let the judge/jury decide.....the end

send him to gitmo

hang him just before he dies of starvation?

If he is already guilty, why have a trial at all?

How about assume he is innocent and leave him in jail unitl he decides to start talking? Sounds fair to me.

The police are obviously in cahoots with Mr. Ichihashi, treating him with kid gloves. If they really want to get a confession out of his (irrespective of whether or not that confession is accurate), they need to take this chap to the mat and start using enhanced interrogation techniques.

let him rot to death in his sell.

send him for a short prison stay, let him get it in the butt a few times, then back to his cell to wither away and die

Put him into trial at once and sentence him to death. There wouldn't be any justice for Lindsay if he just died of starvation.Make him confess in the court and hang him dead!

I would have Mr. Hawker question him.

Isn't this what Asahara did - refuse to talk? And he's still alive...

Put some ecstacy or LSD in his tea to loosen him up a bit.

Ask him if he'd like to refuse drinking as well. Should speed justice up considerably.

What's the big deal? Doesn't he have the right to remain silent? As for the food issues, strap him to a table and stick an IV in him to keep him alive like you would any other prisoner on a hunger strike.

Ironically 'The right to remain silent' was an English invention, he must have studied it pretty well. There is nothing we can do about that law. The only way to punish him is to feed him through IV so that he will live. Death is too easy to get away with.

Concoct some kind of sand-boarding persuasion. After that, just let the J-cops use their imagination and let off a some much pent-up steam.

give up

Get him to trial as soon as possible, before he is too weak to stand trial. I'm guessing staying silent in court won't do him any favors.

He has about 50 days left to live. Let's have a daily countdown.

Prosecutors should be doing their job!! ie: Proving that he commited the crime they are accusing him of. What prosecutors & police should be doing is telling Ichihashi the evidence they have on him!! Refusing to eat is his choice and refusing to talk is his right. This simply says to me that the police here really are useless and are relying solely on his confession.

if he keeps it up, they will put a tube down his throat and force feed him, see how he likes that, i think he will soon start eating again.

"if he keeps it up, they will put a tube down his throat and force feed him"

Nah, they'll just put him on an IV drip. Can you believe that? They should respect his wish to refuse food.

OK. so all those righteous ones out there will say, "oh we have to give him due process of law for OUR sake". In this pitiful one, and I never thought I'd get to this point, but I have to be honest and say, just let him rot/starve, or whatever way he wants to go, ala Mirua-style is also ok!

dolphingirl - agreed!

I would have assumed that they have enough evidence to charge him based on DNA and forensics at the scene without the confession.

Makes me wonder if the J-forensic teams are as useless as the J-cops?

A two or three hour in depth documentary is what I recommend. For him? Keep him in a cell and ask him once a day if he is ready to talk. Explain to him he has sixty seconds to respond. Then IV? No way! Use a needle right after the minute has expired.

Dolphingirl's right - they have him, they presumably have evidence, his cooperation is immaterial. Charge this twat with murder and get on with it!

It is his right not to talk or eat food. Just let "The System" give out the sentence which is due,in this case life in prison. This guy will never get the "suspended from neck with rope until dead" penalty. If he starves to death before all that, so be it.

If the Police had caught him 2 years ago, things could have been different?

I think if they trat him well, he will talk. Maybe a woman should be implicated in the interrogation.

treat

He'll get a slap on the wrist. After all, if two other murderers who -- in grisly fashion -- dismembered their victims and got seven- and ten-year sentences respectively, what does this guy have to fear?

Dolphingirl - well said.

Put Gyaru Sone in the next cell and give both of them tonnes of food. If he doesn't eat it, then sod it. It'll save taxpayers a lot in the end. People also have no right to force feed him.

What prosecutors & police should be doing is telling Ichihashi the evidence they have on him!!

yeah but they won't play their trump card until they have to. they'll use their extention period to extract what they can, it's all cat and mouse, with very little thought put into time management or resource effectiveness. also just remember, western logic doesn't necessarily play a part in this pantomime..

What a silly question. Gee, perhaps they should just follow the law? There's a novel idea. Sit tight and proceed with what little evidence you have. If he starves, he dies. Case closed. If he does not, and you have circumstantial evidence, well perhaps you can slap some sense into your law enforcement so this doesn't happen again.

Starving him to death sounds like quite a good punishment...why force feed him? Just get on with the trial.

Starving him to death sounds like quite a good punishment...

Maybe not. Starving to death is not painfull enough. There are people practicing death by starvation in India and they say it's a pretty good way to go. Just in case they are right, he shouldn't be allowed to escape his body until he pays for the crime he commited.

Asahara of Om Shinri Kyo fame kept shtum for many years. No problem really, apart from existing on the taxpayers' money.

Bring back the treadmill (?) and have them generate electricity or something useful. Treadmills are not considered cruel for hamsters.

In the meantime, let's get on with the trial.

Perhaps they are giving him a chance to show remorse. This would count in his favor/favour at the trial.

Lack of remorse is a big no-no and makes it easier for the judge to invoke the death penalty.

The answer for the title of this column...hmmm, could be, the prosecutors to do nothing, just wait. Time will tell!