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HUMAN RIGHTS FOR EACH PERSON REGARDLESS OF AGE, RACE, RELIGION OR POLITICS
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William Oliver Reese [USA]
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Prosecutor: Kitty Hawk airman deserves life in prison
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21-year-old confessed to murder of Japanese woman
YOKOHAMA, Japan — The USS Kitty Hawk airman accused of killing a Japanese
woman should get life in prison, Prosecutor Toshimi Honda told a panel of
Japanese judges Monday.
The death penalty "although requested by the victim’s family" is
inappropriate for 21-year old U.S. Navy airman William Oliver Reese, Honda
said.
"He is too young, has no criminal record in Japan and his intensions were
indefinite," Honda said.
Reese agreed that he deserved to be punished when he took the stand Monday
in the second day of the robbery-murder trial in Yokohama District Court.
Attorneys gave their closing arguments and a sentencing date was scheduled for
June 2 at 11 a.m.
"To the family, I’m very sorry for my actions. To the people of Japan, I’m
sorry for my actions," Reese said. "To my friends, family and U.S. military,
I’m sorry I let you down."
Reese stands accused of the Jan. 3 robbery-murder of Yoshie Sato, a 56
year-old Yokosuka woman.
According to police and investigator reports, Reese approached Sato around
6 a.m. near Yokosuka Chuo station as Sato was on her way to work. He asked her
for directions to nearby Yokosuka Naval Base, then grabbed Sato’s purse, Honda
said. When she started yelling for help, Reese dragged Sato into a building
entrance, threw her against a cement wall, beating her for 11 minutes,
punching and stomping on her face and stomach. He took about $130 from her
purse and left. Reese then stopped by a convenience store and returned to the
base to work on the ship.
A neighbor found Sato and called for help. She died later that day in a
local hospital of internal bleeding.
Sato’s younger brother Shuichi Sanada was the only person called to testify
besides Reese. A taxi driver of nine years, Sanada didn’t believe Reese was
lost so close to base, he said. He also "wanted to do the same to Reese" as
Reese had done to his sister, he said.
"When I saw her, she looked like a completely different person. Her face
was swollen and her nose was completely broken," Sanada said. "I miss my
sister every day and will never forget her."
Three possible motives were given for the attack.
Honda drew upon Reese’s previous statement to investigators that he was
"bored" with his Navy job and needed money. Reese planned to rob Sato and
killed her in order to get the money.
Reese’s attorney, Midori Tanaka, put forth the explanation it was a robbery
gone bad and Reese had no intention to kill Sato.
"He intended to rob her but she was more resistant and the violence
escalated," Tanaka said.
Reese, on the other hand, said he attacked Sato because he was drunk and
angry. Sato angered him when she turned away from him after pointing him in
the direction on the base.
He said the robbery was an afterthought after he missed striking Sato and
hit her purse.
"I wanted her to help me," Reese said. "I lost my temper. I let my emotions
get the best of me."
Reese said he doesn’t deserve to wear his Navy uniform and that is aware of
the crime’s impact.
"Tensions are high between Japan and [the] U.S. because the trust factor is
endangered," Reese said. "I’m sorry for the stress I’ve caused. I know things
are really strict on base now and I’m sorry for that."
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U.S. sailor gets life in Japan beating death
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TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A court in Japan on Friday convicted a U.S. sailor of killing
a Japanese woman and sentenced him to life in prison. William Reese, 22, was
convicted in Yokohama District Court of fatally beating a 56-year-old woman during a
robbery on January 3 in Yokosuka, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo
. Yoshie Sato was found dead outside a building near the U.S. naval base in Yokosuka, police reports said. She had bled heavily from her head and face and died of excessive internal bleeding from a punctured liver. Her empty purse was found nearby. At the time, Japanese news media reported that a surveillance camera video captured Sato talking before the slaying with a young man who resembled a member of the U.S. military. About 47,000 troops from all U.S. military branches are in Japan, with most of those stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Residents have held widespread protests periodically during the past decade in response to U.S. military personnel committing crimes there. Protests boiled over in 1995 after three American servicemen were found guilty of raping an Okinawan schoolgirl. In addition, the treatment of U.S. military personnel suspected of crimes has been under a spotlight since December, when Japanese police released a female sailor who was arrested for allegedly striking three children with a vehicle while on duty. Under the U.S.-Japan military status agreement, the U.S. government has custody over service members suspected of crimes while on duty. Yielding to the demands of residents, the Pentagon in October committed to cut the number of U.S. Marines in the country by nearly half. Then in April, Japan and the United States reached a deal to transfer about 8,000 U.S. Marines from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam. Japan will pay 59 percent of the cost of the move or just over $6 billion of the $10.27 billion cost. Japan will also finance the construction of command and training structures, as well as housing and infrastructure for U.S. troops and their families.
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South Jersey Sailor Accused Of Killing Woman In Japan
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Father Stunned At Charges
PITTSGROVE TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- A South Jersey family is stunned by the arrest of 21-year
old American sailor William Reese Jr.
 Video:
Father Reacts To Son's Arrest
Slideshow:
Father Stunned At Arrest
The Pittsgrove Township man is in custody in Japan, accused of murdering a Japanese woman. Reese has been stationed in Japan with the U.S. Navy. for two years.Reese's father, William Reese Sr., told NBC 10 News that he can't believe his son killed someone."Does that look like the face of a murderer?" Reese Sr. asked, showing NBC 10 reporter Jason Pizzi a picture of his son in uniform.Reese Sr. said that his son had always wanted to be in the Navy. For the past two years, Reese Jr. has been onboard the USS Kitty Hawk in Japan.The US Navy turned Reese Jr. over to Japanese authorities in Yokosuka City Saturday."It's terrible. It tore my heart out," Reese Sr. said.Investigators have released a surveillance tape that they said shows Reese and 56-year-old Yoshie Sato, who was beaten so badly that she eventually died of a ruptured liver and kidney.The attack happened near a train station in Yokosuka City on Jan. 3."That's not the son I know," Reese Sr. said.Police said they do not know the motive for the attack, but that Reese Jr. allegedly stole 15,000 yen from the victim -- the equivalent of $130."I want to believe that he didn't do it, but according to the captain, he admitted to it," Reese Sr. said.Reese Sr. hasn't talked to his son, but did talk to Reese Jr.'s commanding officer on Monday."He checked my son and said that he had blood or something on the bottom of his shoe that matched the lady's blood, and it looked like he had been in fight," Reese Sr. said. "All we can do here is pray for him."Reese Jr. is scheduled to be in court later this week.
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Local sailor's trial resumes in Japan
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Japanese prosecutors requested Reese receive the penalty of
life imprisonment on Monday, according to a spokeswoman at
the Embassy of Japan in Washington D.C.
The three-judge panel decision will be made on June 2,
according to the Embassy spokeswoman.
Reese, 21, of the Norma section of Pittsgrove, is charged
with murder on the occasion of robbery for attacking Sato on
Jan. 3 in Yokosuka, Japan. He was stationed at the Yokosuka
Naval Base which is about 30 miles from Tokyo.
The Navy handed Reese over to Japanese authorities shortly
after he was charged, according to the Stars and Stripes.
The 2003 graduate of Arthur P. Schalick High School was
alleged to have killed Sato by punching and kicking her in
the face and stomach after she resisted him as he attempted
to take her purse, according to published reports. Reese
stole 15,000 yen, the equivalent of about $130 from Sato.
Sato died in a hospital shortly after the beating. Her
kidney and liver were severely injured, according to
published reports.
Japanese prosecutors played a surveillance tape taken from
the crime scene on opening day of the trial and planned to
introduce physical evidence and eyewitness accounts Monday,
according to Stars and Stripes.
The Sato family had requested the death penalty, according
to published reports. Capital punishment is the maximum
penalty for murder on the occasion of robbery.
Tieshia Reese, William's sister, said the family had
not been informed of any court proceedings. She was unaware
Reese admitted to killing Sato.
"We haven't heard anything," she said Monday.
The family has only been permitted to communicate with Reese
through letters, Tieshia Reese said. She said they received
any information regarding the trial through the Internet and
the news.
William Reese Sr. was not available for comment Monday.
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U.S. Sailor Charged With Murder
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Covered in a blanket, a U.S. sailor is escorted by U.S. Navy officials to Yokosuka police station, southwest of Tokyo, as he is handed over to Japanese authorities Saturday, Jan. 7. The U.S. sailor was arrested on robbery and murder charges. (AP)
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(AP) A U.S. sailor was arrested Saturday on a murder charge for the killing of a Japanese woman, a Japanese police official said.
The 21-year-old sailor was arrested after he was transferred to police from the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, about 30 miles southwest of Tokyo, a police official said on condition of anonymity, citing police branch policy.
The U.S. military had agreed to hand over the sailor, who police said admitted during questioning that he killed 56-year-old Yoshie Sato. Sato was found beaten and unconscious in Yokosuka on Tuesday, and later died of internal bleeding.
William Oliver Reese, 21, beat and robbed Yoshie Sato, 56, of about $129 on a street in Yokosuka on Jan. 3, according to a Kanagawa Prefectural Police official who spoke on condition of anonymity citing police protocol. She died of her injuries.
The U.S. Navy Forces Japan said in a statement that it will continue cooperating with Japanese authorities in the case.
"The U.S. Navy's responsibility to see this matter through to its rightful conclusion does not end here, and we will continue to provide our complete support and cooperation with Japanese authorities," Rear Adm. James Kelly, the commander of U.S. naval forces in Japan, said in the statement.
The sailor was based on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and has been in Japan since May 2004. He has been in the Navy for about two years, and Japan was his first assignment, according to the Navy.
Police plan to transfer the suspect to the Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office on Monday, according to the Kanagawa police official.
The case risks further inflaming local opposition to plans to build an American military airstrip in the southern island of Okinawa, and base a U.S. nuclear-powered warship at Yokosuka for the first time.
Reflecting the sensitivity of the case, the U.S. Embassy issued a statement Friday expressing regret for the crime.
"The U.S. military and the American people are deeply shocked and saddened by this event," U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer said.
In 1995, an uproar over the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen on Japan's southern island of Okinawa triggered massive protests and led to the relocation of an air base to a less densely populated part of the island.
The rape case also resulted in an agreement with the U.S. military that it would hand over American suspects in serious crimes to Japanese authorities for pre-indictment investigation.
About 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan under a joint security pact, but Tokyo
and Washington agreed in October to move 7,000 Marines from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam, and
shift some of the remaining troops within Japan.
©MMVI, The Associated Press.
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Images
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A South Jersey family is stunned by the arrest of 21-year old American sailor William Reese Jr.
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Police said they do not know the motive for the attack, but that Reese Jr. allegedly stole 15,000 yen from the victim -- the equivalent of $130.
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Reese's father, William Reese Sr., told NBC 10 News that he can't believe his son killed someone.
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The US Navy turned Reese Jr. over to Japanese authorities in Yokosuka City Saturday.
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Investigators have released a surveillance tape that they said shows Reese and 56-year-old Yoshie Sato, who was beaten so badly that she eventually died of a ruptured liver and kidney.
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The attack happened near a train station in Yokosuka City on Jan. 3.
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News & Information
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