Asia

US Marine indicted for robbery and murder of Okinawan woman

Washington answers Tokyo's protest with month-long curfew and alcohol ban, troops occupy a tenth of an island Washington administered until 1972

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Devin Jacob Ballard, leaves the Naha Police Station to be referred to the district prosecutor's office in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on October 5, 2026.Koichi Nagano/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP Devin Jacob Ballard, leaves the Naha Police Station to be referred to the district prosecutor's office in Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on October 5, 2026.Koichi Nagano/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP zerohedge.com
Anna Yagi is pictured April 24, 2022, in this screenshot from her Facebook page. (Facebook) Anna Yagi is pictured April 24, 2022, in this screenshot from her Facebook page. (Facebook) Facebook
The Naminoue Crystal Hotel in Naha, Okinawa, is pictured on Oct. 4, 2026. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes) The Naminoue Crystal Hotel in Naha, Okinawa, is pictured on Oct. 4, 2026. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes) Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes

Japanese prosecutors indicted a US Marine on Sunday on robbery and murder charges, accusing him of strangling a 39-year-old woman with a telephone cord in a Naha hotel room and leaving with her backpack and wallet. The accused, Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, is stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and denies the allegations. The victim, Anna Yagi, was found dead in the room on October 3; police picked up Ballard within hours after an officer spotted him alone in the entertainment district of Okinawa City, and security footage reportedly showed a man entering the hotel with Yagi and leaving alone.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the crime "extremely regrettable," and the Japanese government lodged a strong protest with Washington. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned US Ambassador George Glass and said officials are "reviewing the off-base code of conduct for US troops." Washington's answer was administrative: a two-day operational pause, followed by a month-long curfew and alcohol ban for personnel on the island. That code of conduct is Washington's to write. The "liberty" policy covering private activities off base was already tightened in 2024 after a string of sexual assaults by US personnel, off-base drinking is already banned between 1 and 5 a.m., and ABC reports that high-level bilateral talks will address off-duty conduct.

The reviews have precedents. In 2016 a base worker and former Marine received a life sentence for the rape and murder of Rina Shimabukuro. Last year a Marine was convicted of choking and sexually assaulting a Japanese woman. Okinawa hosts most of the roughly 54,000 US troops stationed in Japan; about a tenth of the island's land is used exclusively by the US military, and the island lived under American administration until 1972.

The III Marine Expeditionary Force says it recognizes the seriousness of the charges and will continue to cooperate fully with Japanese authorities. The curfew runs a month.