Prosecutors indicted a 20-year-old US Marine stationed in Okinawa on Sunday on charges of robbery-murder, over the killing of a woman in Naha and the taking of her wallet and other belongings, NHK reported.
The Marine was arrested in the case and charged with robbery-murder — a combined charge covering a killing carried out in the course of a theft. The indictment was handed down on the 25th.
The source names the base as Camp Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture but gives no further detail on the accused. It does not state the woman's age, the date or place of the killing, or what the Marine is alleged to have done beyond the killing and the theft. No plea or statement from the defense was reported.
Cases involving US service members in Okinawa turn on the status of forces agreement (SOFA — the treaty that sets how Japan and the US handle crimes by troops), which gives US custody of a suspect until indictment. Once indicted, the suspect passes to Japanese custody, and the case proceeds through Japanese courts.