Not Good News

[chris]

Japanese Tourist Stabbed To Death In Siberia

[motoreiter]

Two other links with more detail:

Japanese Man Dead in Siberia | News | The Moscow Times

Japanese Diplomat to Visit After Motorcycle Tourist Murdered in Siberia | News | The Moscow Times

[motoreiter]

Here's another to an article (in Russian) with basically the same info, as well as some info about a couple of similar attacks over the past few years:

Японского мотоциклиста зарезали в Забайкалье - ПРОИСШЕСТВИЯ

Looks like this place is about halfway between Ulan Ude and Chita, a bit west of Khilok, near the 760 km marker on the Trans-Siberian Highway.

[bushman_uk]

A great loss and a terrible thing to happen. RIP my thoughts to all his friends and family

[seouljoe]

Shit,,,

[Chris of Japan]

Japanese news said he was camped 500 meters from the road.
Usually far enough away not to be noticed from the road.
Poor guy was just a week into his RTW...
RIP

[motoreiter]

There is definitely something odd about this whole situation--Camped in an isolated spot, 30 stab wounds, nothing taken?

I'm actually relatively confident that the local police will catch whoever is responsible--many of these crimes are not exactly committed by criminal masterminds, and they often leave a track of clues a mile wide, and the local police tend to know who the bad guys are. Hopefully in this case as well...

[seouljoe]

Originally Posted by Chris of Japan

Japanese news said he was camped 500 meters from the road.
Usually far enough away not to be noticed from the road.
Poor guy was just a week into his RTW...
RIP

Poignant ,,
A Korean rider couple saw him at several locations in Vladivostok ,, only few days ago,,, eating alone ,, and at a cafe ,, waiting for the bike etc, , also our Yuri Melickov saw him too, in Vladivostok ,, on his Suzuki,,,though he didn't clear the customs for him. He says ,, all of Vladivistok is in shock.

I am headed that way in two weeks ,,, may god be with me ,, Inshallah ,, !
,,

Life must go on ,, in the face of all the evil ,, 7.45 PM in Korea ,, I am having several stiff single malt as I write this.

[craig.iedema]

Given there wasn't a theft that took place, I did wonder if it was a hate crime. Or some sort if misunderstanding that invoked a violent response.

Quite sad and I guess for those of us who will travel in this area soon a little concerning.

[navalarchitect]

Yes its an awful thing to have happened and of course we all feel for his family and friends.

But also we need to keep it in perspective, this sort of thing happens randomly throughout the world, you name a country I'm sure I can find a similar instance quick enough (I know can for Australia and the UK the two places I have lived). It doesn't in anyway demonstrate Siberia is dangerous, it just shows 'shit just happens' as one of my friends likes to say. I camped and hoteled and stayed with people throughout Siberia last year and the people were uniformly friendly, much more so than in the more touristed and wealthier parts of Russia and Europe and I bet this is the case for most who travel there - so travel with an open mind and take usual care and don't let this put you off. (And statistically I'm sure you will have a much greater chance of being killed or injured on you trip by an aggresive car/truck driver than a crazed knife murderer).

[Landroverholic]

Wow. Thats dreadful news. The sort of story that we all hope never to hear. Poor guy.

Callum

[Tirpse]

Originally Posted by navalarchitect

Yes its an awful thing to have happened and of course we all feel for his family and friends.

But also we need to keep it in perspective, this sort of thing happens randomly throughout the world, you name a country I'm sure I can find a similar instance quick enough

I have to agree. I dont know how widely it has been in news but just this weekend there was major shooting in Finland which is known to be relatively safe. Some mad boy went into a rooftop of shopping mall 2 AM and started to shoot people in bar&nighclub with .308 and .22 caliber rifles One people died on the spot, second one died in hospital. One policewomen who arrived on scene right after shooting is has been in emergency care in hospital several days now and situation is not looking good for her. Also at least 4 or 5 wounded.

Almost every month or year there are also cases that just someone just goes berserk and stabbs or shoots someone. Recent case was just i think during winter when former mental hospital patient went and just stabbed 16 years old girl walking past him saying he wanted to get into treatment. Girl died and there has been in time of 3 years another similar case.

So i guess that if we start to look our own countries news at least i have realised bad things happens in every countries.

[*Touring Ted*]

Just why ???

:confused1:


Terrible news... R.I.P

[bushman_uk]

My friends in Chita have informed me that two men have been arrested for this crime and one has admitted his guilt .

[motoreiter]

I couldn't find anything about an arrest online, but here is a link to an interesting article in Russian:

ИТАР-ТАСС : Основная версия убийства японского байкера в Забайкалье связана с корыстными мотивами

Unfortunately I don't have time to translate it, but a couple of interesting points:
--There was a snowstorm in the area on the night of May 22; some electrical workers saw the victim that evening and suggested that he move somewhere else, but could not make themselves understood;
--the next morning his moto was found in the village, and the local "mayor" notified the police, who soon found the body in a field near the road.
--as of the time of the article, more than 1000 potential witnesses had been interviewed, and they were looking for more drivers who might have seen something along the road.
--apparently the victim was an experienced traveler who had been to Europe, Africa, and India.

Elsewhere I saw that the governor of the region has taken personal control over the investigation. If nothing else, it appears that the Russian authorities are taking this crime very seriously.