GSDF member arrested in slaying of cabby

KAGOSHIMA--A 19-year-old Ground Self-Defense Force member, who told police he was determined to kill someone no matter who, was arrested Tuesday in the murder of a taxi driver near here earlier in the day.

The teenager, who holds the rank of private first class, admitted to stabbing taxi driver Saburo Kamizono, police said.

The incident occurred along a national highway in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, around 2:30 a.m.

The youth, whose name was withheld because he is a minor, had been on unauthorized leave from the GSDF's 1st Infantry Regiment at Camp Nerima in Tokyo since March 21.

Kamizono, 58, a resident of Kagoshima, was found slumped in his cab after a passer-by alerted police around 2:55 a.m. that a taxi "had hit an embankment" on Highway No. 10.

He was found with a wound to the neck. A knife was retrieved from the driver's seat.

The police received a call from the teen around 3:40 a.m., saying he had killed a taxi driver.

Police rushed to an unmanned police box about 1 kilometer away where the youth was waiting and arrested him.

Police said the boy told them he had traveled to JR Kagoshima-Chuo Station by train, where he hailed Kamizono's taxi.

"I had planned to kill someone," he was quoted as telling the police, adding that he had no particular individual in mind. He said he stabbed the driver from behind but did not steal any cash or valuables.

The teen was on leave from March 19 to 21, but had failed to return to the camp afterward, according to the GSDF's Eastern Army Headquarters.

"After correctly grasping the facts, we must extend an apology to the victim and make clear what was behind this incident," Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a news conference Tuesday.

The Kagoshima taxi company for which Kamizono worked said it had called on its drivers to take caution after the March 19 fatal stabbing of a cab driver in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

A 22-year-old U.S. Navy serviceman, who was absent from his ship without leave, was arrested in the case on April 3.(IHT/Asahi: April 23,2008)