Japan court
acquits suspect in British hostess death, convicts him of
rapes
TOKYO (AP) -- A Tokyo court acquitted a Japanese real estate
developer on Tuesday in the death and dismemberment of a British
bar hostess, but sentenced him to life over a series of rapes, a
court official said.
Joji Obara, 54, was arrested in 2001 on charges of rape resulting
in the death of the Briton, Lucie Blackman. He was also on trial
over nine other rapes, including that of the Australian, Carita
Ridgway, who died after a 1992 attack.
The Tokyo District Court acquitted Obara of charges involving
Blackman's death, but sentenced him to life for a series of rapes,
according to a court official who spoke on condition of anonymity,
citing protocol.
She could not immediately clarify whether rape victims under the
conviction included Blackman. Obara was never charged with murder,
but instead a lesser charge of "rape leading to death."
Blackman, 21 at the time, was working at a Tokyo night club in 2000
when she went missing after telling a friend she was going on a
drive with a customer. Her dismembered body was discovered in a
seaside cave in early 2001.
Real estate tycoon Obara was arrested later that year on charges of
rape resulting in death in Blackman's killing. Prosecutors say he
gave Blackman a fatal drug overdose in June 2000 before
dismembering her body.
Obara, 54, was also suspected in a string of other rapes, including
three that involve foreign women he met at Tokyo hostess clubs.
Prosecutors say Ridgway died shortly after being raped by Obara in
1992.
Obara pleaded innocent to all the charges, suggesting in testimony
that Blackman took the drugs herself.
The Briton's disappearance in July 2000 triggered one of Japan's
highest-profile hunts in years. After seven months, her decomposed
body was found in a cave near a beachside condominium belonging to
Obara.
Obara allegedly invited Blackman to his condominium, drugged her
and sexually assaulted her after she fell unconscious.
Blackman's case has cast light on foreign women who come to Japan
hoping to make money as bar hostesses. Blackman, a former flight
attendant, came to Japan in May 2000 and used her earnings to
travel around Asia.
Experts warn that such workers are vulnerable to crimes or
exploitation because the justice system does not provide a way for
them to work legally on a short-term basis - forcing women to work
under-the-table on tourist visas without legal protection.
The verdict comes as Japanese police are investigating another
high-profile murder of a Briton last month.
The British language teacher whose naked body was found in a
sand-filled bathtub at an apartment outside Tokyo was beaten and
then suffocated to death, and police are still hunting for the
prime suspect, a 28-year-old Japanese male.