U.S. Marine Arrested for Allegedly Killing Woman in Okinawa

Naha, Okinawa Pref., Oct. 4 (Jiji Press)--Okinawa Prefectural Police on Sunday arrested a U.S. Marine for allegedly killing a 39-year-old woman in a hotel room in Naha, the capital of the southernmost Japan prefecture, and stealing her belongings.

The 20-year-old serviceman, Devin Jacob Ballard, who is stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air base in Ginowan, Okinawa, has denied the allegation, telling investigators that he does not know anything about it.

The police are investigating the cause of the woman's death and the nature of the relationship between the two.

According to the police, Ballard allegedly killed the woman by unknown means in the hotel room in the Wakasa district of Naha between around 2:10 a.m. and 4:15 a.m. on Saturday and stole her backpack, wallet and other belongings.

Investigators said the woman entered the hotel with the suspect at around 2:10 a.m. When hotel staff checked the room at around 4:15 a.m. after the checkout time had passed, they discovered the woman's body. The backpack and other items were later found near the hotel.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]