US man charged in Grand Canyon tourist slaying

PHOENIX, Dec 9 (Reuters) Arizona prosecutors charged a man with the kidnap and murder of a Japanese tourist found stabbed to death in the Grand Canyon earlier this year.

Randy Wescogame, 18, of the Havasupai Indian Tribe in northern Arizona, was indicted on charges yesterday including robbery, murder and kidnapping of Tomomi Hanamure on May 8. He could face life in prison if convicted.

Hanamure, 34, vanished after setting out to walk to a waterfall in the remote Havasupai Reservation, which straddles an area along the southern rim of the Grand Canyon.

Police launched a search after she failed to return to her hotel.

Her body was discovered several days later with 29 stab wounds.

Arizona state prosecutors said Wescogame had been held on unrelated assault charges since May by authorities on the reservation, which is the most remote of the many tribal lands in Arizona.

The killing occurred in one of the most inaccessible areas of the Grand Canyon, a top US tourist draw attracting more than 5 million visitors a year.

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