Japan indicts U.S. Marine on murder charge over woman's killing

Japanese prosecutors have indicted a U.S. Marine on suspicion of murdering a woman on Okinawa, a court spokesman told AFP on Monday, in a case that prompted public outrage.

The alleged killing of the 39-year-old Japanese woman caused Japan's premier to slam the "heinous crime" and reignited controversy over the heavy U.S. military presence on the southern island.

"The case was indicted on October 25," said the spokesman for the court in Naha, confirming media reports that the suspect had been indicted on charges of murder and robbery.

Okinawa prefectural police said they arrested Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, who is stationed at Futenma Air Station, on suspicion of strangling Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in the island's capital city of Naha.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that, according to the indictment document, the suspect allegedly strangled the woman from Naha in a hotel with a telephone cord on October 3.

He is also accused of stealing a backpack containing the woman's wallet and other belongings, the newspaper said.

The Marine denied the allegations at the time of his arrest but has now made statements that imply some involvement in the case, the Yomiuri and other media said, citing investigative sources.

Crimes including rapes, assaults, hit-and-runs and drunk driving by U.S. military personnel have long triggered protests on the southern Japanese island, which has for years urged other regions in the country to share the burden of hosting U.S. troops.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has said that officials were reviewing the off-base code of conduct for U.S. troops in Japan following the alleged killing.

The high-level bilateral consultations will examine off-duty conduct and the "liberty" policy governing off-base private activities of U.S. military personnel, he said.

"We plan to hold discussions including whether the existing rules are effectively functioning," Motegi said, adding that "matters such as patrols and curfew management" would be under review in talks with the United States.

The existing policy, updated in 2024 following a string of sexual assaults by U.S. military personnel in Okinawa, includes a ban on U.S. military personnel drinking in public off base between 1:00 am and 5:00 am or going to bars during those hours.

The U.S. military enacted a two-day operational pause after the Marine's arrest to reinforce discipline and standards, followed by a month-long curfew.

Previous incidents have strained relations

Crimes committed by U.S. personnel have been a thorn in relations between the close security allies. The number of arrests related to U.S. service members and their families exceeded 100 last year, according to prefectural police.

Last year, a Japanese court sentenced a U.S. Marine accused of choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s to seven years in prison.

In 2017, a former U.S. Marine and civilian military base worker was sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a local woman in Okinawa.

The same year, U.S. Forces Japan banned all personnel from consuming alcohol after an intoxicated U.S. Marine crashed his vehicle into a mini-truck, killing its 61-year-old local driver.  

In Japan, once a suspect is formally indicted, the conviction rate stands at more than 99 percent.

The justice ministry says the near-perfect rates are because prosecutors only pursue airtight cases, they are confident about winning.

Why are so many bases concentrated in Okinawa?

Okinawa was under U.S. occupation from World War II until 1972. Today Okinawa hosts 70% of America's military facilities and most of the 54,000 U.S. troops based in Japan today, despite comprising just 0.6% of Japan's landmass.

In the wake of World War II, Japan regained its sovereignty under the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1952, but Okinawa remained under American control, making it a hub of U.S. military build-up.

The 1972 return of Okinawa's sovereignty to Japan did little to diminish the number of U.S. bases on the island, leading to the disproportionate burden it is saddled with today.