Japan Indicts U.S. Marine for Murder and Robbery in Okinawa Hotel Killing of 39-Year-Old Woman
The case has revived anger over the American military presence on the island and prompted Tokyo and Washington to review off-base rules for U.S. troops.
Japanese prosecutors have indicted a U.S. Marine on murder and robbery charges over the killing of a woman on Okinawa, a court spokesman told AFP on Monday, in a case that has provoked public outrage and reignited the debate over America's heavy military footprint on the southern Japanese island.
The spokesman for the court in Naha said the indictment was filed Oct. 25. Okinawa prefectural police 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 prefectural capital of Naha. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported, citing the indictment, that he allegedly strangled the Naha woman with a telephone cord on Oct. 3 and stole a backpack containing her wallet and other belongings.
Ballard denied the allegations when he was arrested, but Japanese media reports citing investigative sources say he has since made statements implying some involvement. Japan's prime minister condemned the "heinous crime" after the killing.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Japanese officials are reviewing the off-base code of conduct for U.S. troops. High-level talks with the United States will examine off-duty conduct and the "liberty" policy that governs private activities away from base. "We plan to hold discussions including whether the existing rules are effectively functioning," Motegi said, adding that "matters such as patrols and curfew management" are on the table.
The existing policy was updated in 2024 after a string of sexual assaults by U.S. personnel on Okinawa. It bans service members from drinking in public off base between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. and from going to bars during those hours. After Ballard's arrest the U.S. military ordered a two-day operational pause to reinforce discipline and standards, followed by a month-long curfew.
Crimes by American personnel have long strained relations between the two allies. Arrests tied 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 to seven years in prison for choking and attempting to rape a woman in her 20s. In 2017, a former Marine and civilian base worker received a life sentence for the rape and murder of a local woman, and that same year U.S. Forces Japan banned all personnel from drinking alcohol after an intoxicated Marine crashed into a mini-truck and killed its 61-year-old driver.
Once a suspect is formally indicted in Japan, the conviction rate exceeds 99%. The justice ministry attributes that to prosecutors pursuing only cases they are confident of winning.
Okinawa was under U.S. occupation from the end of World War II until 1972. It makes up just 0.6% of Japan's land area yet hosts 70% of America's military facilities in the country and most of the roughly 54,000 U.S. troops based in Japan. Okinawan leaders have for years urged other regions to share that burden, and each new case adds to the pressure for change.
