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Police say unusuable credit card indicates U.S. sailor planned fatal stabbing

Sunday, 06 April 2008

YOKOHAMA -- A U.S. sailor under arrest for robbing and murdering a taxi driver last month is suspected of handing over a maxed-out credit card when paying the driver, which police say indicates the attack was planned.

Police have confirmed that the credit card of Olatunbosun Ugbogu, 22, found in the taxi of 61-year-old Masaaki Takahashi, had been unusable for several months. The finding has led investigators to believe that the killing was premeditated.

Kanagawa Prefectural Police referred Ugbogu, a Nigerian national serving as a crewmember of the USS Cowpens, to prosecutors Saturday for murder, robbery and violating the Firearms and Swords Control Law.

Takahashi was found dead in a car parked in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on the night of March 19 with a knife stuck in his neck.

Ugbogu's credit card was discovered near the driver's seat of Takahashi's cab, and his taxi fare of nearly 20,000 yen was unpaid. This suggests that he told the driver that he would pay by credit card, according to prefectural police.

Investigators suspect that Ugbogu stabbed Takahashi after making the victim believe that he would pay the fare.

Investigators are now interrogating Ugbogu to discover whether he got into an argument with Takahashi over the fare.

Ugbogu told his lawyer that he had 30,000 yen in cash and intended to pay the taxi fare. However, prefectural police have found that he had been suffering money problems.

He did admit to his lawyer that he stabbed Takahashi, but denied any murderous intent, claiming that he attacked the driver after hearing a voice in his head ordering him to stab someone.

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