TOKYO, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. serviceman was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday for murdering a Japanese woman in January in a port city south of Tokyo, Kyodo News reported.

    William Reese, a 22-year-old crew member of the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk based at Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture, admitted to beating 56-year-old Japanese woman Yoshie Sato to death, but said he did not intend to kill her.

    Prosecutors accused Reese at the Yokohama District court of fatally beating Sato after failing to grab the woman's bag in Yokosuka on the morning of January 3. They also alleged that the sailor had stolen 15,000 yen (134 U.S. dollars) afterwards and then fled the scene. Reese was arrested by the Japanese police four days later.

    Under the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, the U.S. side can hold the suspects until the law suit is brought forward. However, following an atrocity by U.S. Marines against a Japanese girl in 1995, Washington agreed to give "sympathetic consideration" to pre-indictment handover involving allegations of serious crimes such as murder and rape.

    Reese's case marked the first time the United States has agreed to a pre-indictment handover over a murder case since then. Enditem