THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996             TAG: 9608100250
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A7   EDITION: FINAL 
DATELINE: TOKYO                             LENGTH:   26 lines

U.S. SAILOR CHARGED WITH TRYING TO KILL JAPANESE WOMAN

A U.S. sailor was formally accused Friday of slashing a woman's throat in southwestern Japan to steal her purse.

Japanese prosecutors charged Seaman Terrence Michael Swanson, 20, of Anoka, Minn., with attempted murder during a robbery in the July 16 attack. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Swanson grabbed the woman from behind and slashed her throat as she walked outside the Sasebo Navy base on the southernmost main island of Kyushu, prosecutors told Kyodo News.

He stole $120 from her purse, Kyodo reported. The woman is now recovering in a hospital.

Swanson, who is assigned to the missile frigate McClusky, was arrested in Sasebo, 600 miles southwest of Tokyo, on July 20.

The U.S. Navy handed Swanson over to the Japanese in the first implementation of an agreement reached in October that gives Japanese authorities greater leeway in demanding custody of U.S. military personnel suspected of crimes.

KEYWORDS: ATTEMPTED MURDER by CNB