Ichihashi stays silent, refuses food

CHIBA (Kyodo) Tatsuya Ichihashi, who has been arrested in connection with the 2007 murder of English-language teacher Lindsay Hawker, has undergone a medical checkup by a doctor after refusing to eat since his arrest Tuesday evening, police sources said Saturday.

The clinical examination Friday evening found Ichihashi, 30, has no health problems, such as dehydration, the sources said.

Ichihashi has remained silent about the allegations against him that he abandoned Hawker's body on the balcony of his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in March 2007, the sources said.