May 12, 2012
SANTIAGO (AFP) - A Japanese astronomer with an international project that seeks to explore the origins of stars was killed during a robbery outside his apartment building, police said Friday.
A suspect has been arrested and charged with the murder of Koh-Ichiro Morita, 57, who worked on the the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submilmeter Array (ALMA), an observatory in the Chilean Andes, said Victor Arriagada, a police official.
Morita was found unconscious Monday by the concierge of the building where he lived in Santiago, and was later taken to a hospital where he died hours later, Arriagada said.
He said an investigation determined that he had been killed with a blow to the head during a robbery.
Christopher Quijada, who had a criminal record, was charged with the crime Friday before a Chilean court, he said.
Morita was responsible for the installation of 16 antennas of the 66 that make up the giant array of radiotelescopes in Atacama, a high desert in northern Chile. It is scheduled to be fully operational at the end of the year.