Overview
- Prosecutors indicted PFC Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, on Oct. 25, charging him with robbery-murder over the death of a 39-year-old woman found in a Naha hotel room on Oct. 3.
- The indictment alleges the victim was killed by strangulation with a telephone handset cord and that the suspect stole her backpack, which contained her wallet.
- Investigators say nearby security cameras show a tattooed man leaving the hotel carrying a backpack and that the recovered pack was found close to the scene.
- Okinawa police arrested Ballard earlier after spotting him in a nightlife district, noted he lived at Marine Corps Base Futenma, and reported he told officers at arrest, "I don't know," about the charges.
- The indictment moves the case into formal court proceedings and may heighten local scrutiny of the U.S. military presence in Okinawa as residents and officials await trial and further evidence.