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{{Short description|Japanese serial rapist (born 1952)}}
{{nihongo|'''Joji Obara'''|織原 城二|Obara Jōji|extra=born 1952 in ], ]}} is a convicted rapist who was accused of the ] and subsequent deaths of two women, ] ] Lucie Blackman in the summer of 2000 and ] Carita Ridgeway in 1992, and the rapes of six other women.
{{nihongo|'''Joji Obara'''|織原 城二|Obara Jōji}}, born '''Kim Sung-jong''' ({{Korean|hangul=김성종; ]: 金聖鐘|rr=|labels= }})<ref name=":4">{{cite web|title=How the bubble burst for Lucie's alleged killer|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article1722929.ece|date=August 17, 2005|work=The Times}}</ref> (born on 10 August 1952)<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard Lloyd|last=Parry|title=People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman|publisher=]|location=New York City|date=2000|isbn=978-0374230593|page=204}}</ref> is a ] ] who raped between 150 and 400 women between 1992 and 2000. He was charged with drugging, raping and killing an English woman, Lucie Blackman; the rape and ] of an Australian woman, Carita Ridgway; and the rape of eight other women.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" />

In 2007, Obara was sentenced to ] on multiple rape charges and manslaughter but was ] in the Blackman case for lack of direct evidence. In December 2008, the ] found Obara guilty on the counts of abduction, ] and disposal of Blackman's body.<ref name="BBC News" /> Blackman's death, as well as Obara's trial, received extensive press coverage internationally, especially in the United Kingdom.


==Background== ==Background==
Joji Obara was born on 10 August 1952 to ] parents in ], ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/a-tale-of-rape-murder-and-a-japanese-playboy/2007/04/20/1176697090797.html|title=A tale of rape, murder and a Japanese playboy|date=April 21, 2007|newspaper=]|publisher=The Age Company Ltd.|quote=''Born Kim Sung Jong in 1952 to a super rich Japanese/Korean parents in Osaka,...''|location=Melbourne, Australia|first1=Justin|last1=Norrie}}</ref> During his youth, Obara's father worked his way from a scrap collector to the immensely wealthy owner of a string of properties and ]s.<ref name=":4" /> Obara was educated at private schools in ], and received daily tutoring in a variety of subjects. At age 15, he enrolled in a prestigious ] affiliated with ],<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://casefilepodcast.com/case-107-lucie-blackman-carita-ridgway/|title=Case 107: Lucie Blackman & Carita Ridgway|date=February 23, 2019|website=Casefile: True Crime Podcast|language=en-US|access-date=February 25, 2019}}</ref> virtually guaranteeing his acceptance into the university.
Joji Obara was born Kim Sung Jong to a poor ] family in Osaka in 1952. During his youth, his father worked his way from scrap collector to taxi driver to immensely wealthy owner of a string of ] parlours.<ref name=times1>{{cite news | title=How the bubble burst for Lucie's alleged killer | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article555891.ece | author=Richard Lloyd Parry | publisher=] | date=August 17, 2005 | accessdate=2007-11-29}}</ref> At 15, Obara enrolled in one of Japan's most elite ]s, a ] affiliated with ]. Two years later, upon his father's death, he inherited holdings in Osaka and Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University with degrees in ] and ], he became a ] and legally changed his name to Joji Obara.<ref name="times1" />


During the late 1980s and early 1990s Obara invested heavily in real estate speculation. After losing his fortune when the ] burst and his firm collapsed, he reportedly used his business as a ] front for the ] syndicate, ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,108848,00.html|title=Death of a Hostess|publisher=TIME|date=2001-05-07|accessdate=2008-03-28}}</ref> Two years later, following his father's death in ], Obara inherited property in Osaka and Tokyo.<ref name=":3" /> After traveling extensively and graduating from Keio University with degrees in politics and law, he became a ] and legally changed his name.<ref name=":4" /> Obara invested heavily in real estate ], gaining assets estimated as much as ]38 million. After losing his fortune and his firm during the ], Obara was pursued by creditors and reportedly used his business as a ] front for the '']'' syndicate ].<ref name="time">{{cite news|url=https://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,108848,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310233629/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,108848,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 10, 2007|title=Death of a Hostess|magazine=]|date=<!-- was updated from May 7, 2001? -->May 14, 2001|access-date=March 28, 2008 | first=Evan Alan|last=Wright}}</ref>


==Crimes== ==Crimes==
A prolific diarist, police revealed that he believed "Women are only good for sex" and stated that he "cannot do women who are conscious."{{Fact|date=June 2007}} His personal video tapes, 4,000 to 5,000 of which were recovered by police, confirm this, leading them to believe that he may have raped anywhere from 150 to 400 women.<ref> Retrieved December 21, 2006</ref> <ref name="abc">{{cite news | author=Peter Martin | url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s274620.htm | title=PM –Japanese businessman arrested over rape of Australian woman | publisher=] | date=April 9, 2001 | accessdate=2007-11-29}} </ref> <ref></ref> Obara was a habitual drug user who was reported to have a fetish for ] women.<ref name=":1" /> He developed a pattern of criminal behavior, beginning with unlawfully administering drugs to render his victims unconscious, then abducting and ] them.<ref name=":3" /> Obara victimized women of both Japanese and Western backgrounds.<ref name="abc">{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s274620.htm|title=Japanese businessman arrested over rape of Australian woman|date=9 April 2001|website=]}}</ref> Obara recorded his attacks on videotape, at least 400 of which were recovered by police, giving them cause to believe that he might have raped anywhere from 150 to 400 women.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/2005_02_27/story_1306.asp |title=Transcript – Night Stalkers |work=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061130085949/http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/2005_02_27/story_1306.asp |date=February 27, 2005 |archive-date=November 30, 2006}}</ref> Police found extensive journals in which Obara made reference to "conquest play",<ref name=":3" /> a euphemism describing his ]s on women whom he wrote were “good only for sex" and on whom he sought "revenge on the world"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/asia-pacific/6242747.stm|title=The 'beast with a human face'|first=Chris|last=Summers|date=24 April 2007|website=]}}</ref> after drugging them with ].<ref name=":3" /><ref name="time"/><ref name="Brisbane">{{cite news|url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/evil-behind-tokyos-lights/2007/04/20/1176697082907.html|title=Evil behind Tokyo's lights|date=April 20, 2007|newspaper=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=]|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110222zg.html|title=Monster in Blackman case still an enigma|date=22 February 2011|page=12}}</ref>


===Carita Ridgway===
In October 2000, Obara was arrested and charged with the drugging, ] and death of Blackman and another hostess, 21-year-old ]n model Carita Ridgeway, who died in 1992. He was also charged with raping six other women. According to the indictment, he made Blackman a drink containing a drug before raping her at a condominium in ], ]. She subsequently died.
Carita Simone Ridgway (March 3, 1970{{snd}} February 29, 1992) was an Australian model from ], ], who was working in Tokyo's ] area as a bar hostess<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nowtolove.com.au/celebrity/celeb-news/im-haunted-by-my-daughters-murder-9606|title=I'm haunted by my daughter's murder|website=Now To Love|date=29 June 2011 |language=en|access-date=February 25, 2019}}</ref> to earn money for acting school.<ref name=":1" /> Common in East Asian nations, "]" in this sense describes a modern form of ] entertainer, i.e. young women at bars who are paid to engage in conversation with men, light their cigarettes, sing ] and sometimes dance{{snd}}with a strict policy against men touching the hostesses or making sexual propositions.<ref name=":3" /> Popular hostesses often receive drinks, presents and social invitations from their favourite customers.


Ridgway, who was offered a lift by Obara, was drugged; this led to chloroform-related ] and ]. Obara's culpability was exposed when, while using an ],<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=4361278&page=1|title=Vanished in Tokyo: 'We'll Never Have Peace'|date=April 24, 2009|website=]|language=en|access-date=February 25, 2019}}</ref> he took an unconscious Ridgway to the hospital claiming that she was suffering from shellfish-related ].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/7832817/Tokyo-Vice-extract-Behind-the-Lucie-Blackman-story.html|title=Tokyo Vice extract: Behind the Lucie Blackman story|last=Adelstein|first=Jake|newspaper=]|date=June 19, 2010|access-date=February 25, 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Ridgway died after life support was stopped at her family's request; her body was cremated and ] to Australia.<ref name=":2" /> The cause of death was initially deemed ], and there was no support for an investigation by the Australian embassy or by Japanese police as requested by the family.<ref name=":1" /> When police later searched Obara's home, they found a diary entry that read, "Carita Ridgway, too much chloroform", and a videotape of Obara raping Ridgway.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Lives Lost in Translation: Vanished Overseas |url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=4332173&page=1 |access-date=2023-06-22 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref>
Obara has maintained his innocence, claiming the drugs that caused her to die were self-administered.


===Lucie Blackman===
Tim Blackman, Lucie Blackman's father, accepted £450,000 in ''mimaikin''—or condolence money—from a friend of Joji Obara. The other members of the family were against the acceptance of the money.<ref></ref>
Lucie Jane Blackman (September 1, 1978{{snd}} July 1, 2000), known as Lucie, was a British woman from ], ], who worked as a bar hostess in Tokyo.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=]|url=http://www.economist.com/node/18226555?story_id=18226555|title=Japan's dark underbelly: Doing justice|date=24 February 2011|page=90}}</ref> Blackman had previously worked as a ] for ] and went to Japan to see the world and earn money to repay her debts.<ref name=":3" /> At the time of her death, she was working as a hostess at Casablanca, a nightclub later known as Greengrass, in ].<ref name="time"/> On July 1, she went on a ''dōhan'' (paid date) with a Casablanca customer.<ref name=":3" /> Other than a few calls to a friend during the date, no one heard from her again.<ref name="time" />


Blackman's family flew to Tokyo and started a high-profile media campaign. They approached Britain's ], ], who was visiting Tokyo at that time.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6564783.stm|title=How family forced police to act|website=]|date=April 24, 2007|first=Chris|last=Summers}}</ref> Newspapers started publicizing Blackman's disappearance on July 13, when ] ] mentioned the case during an official visit to Japan, where he met with ] ].<ref name=":3" /><ref name="keystone">{{cite news|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070424f1.html|title=Approach to Blackman slaying hit, likened to Keystone Cops|newspaper=]|date=April 24, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218114328/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070424f1.html |archive-date=February 18, 2009 }}</ref> An information hotline was staffed by English ]s, and an anonymous businessman funded a reward of ]100,000.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk" />
⚫ ==Trial and verdict==
Obara was charged with drugging, ] and killing Blackman, as well as raping of six other women and manslaughter of another hostess.<ref name="orihara"> The Times, Timesonline August 17, 2005</ref>


As a result of the publicity surrounding the case, three foreign women came forward to describe waking up sore and sick in Obara's bed, with no memory of the night before. Several of them had reported him to Roppongi police, but were ignored.<ref name=":42">{{cite web|first=Richard Lloyd|last=Parry|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article1722929.ece|title=How the bubble burst for Lucie's alleged killer|date=August 17, 2005|work=]}}</ref> It was also around this time that police made the connection between cases via Obara.<ref name=":3" />
On ], ] Obara was jailed for life on multiple rape charges and one manslaughter, but he was acquitted of the crime of Blackman's rape and murder.<ref> ] retrieved April 24, 2007</ref>


On February 9, 2001, Blackman's body was found in a shallow grave under a bathtub in a seaside cave at ], ], about {{convert|50|km|mi}} south of Tokyo and a few hundred meters from Obara's apartment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1163603.stm|title=Remains identified as missing Lucie|website=]|date=10 February 2001}}</ref> The body had been cut into ten pieces and put inside separate bags, her head shaved and encased in concrete. The body was too ] to show the cause of death.<ref name=":3" /> According to Obara's ], he made Blackman a ] at a condominium in ], then killed her. Obara has maintained his innocence, claiming the drugs were voluntarily self-administered.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2000/12/15/national/obara-pleads-innocent-to-rape/|title=Obara pleads innocent to rape|newspaper=]|date=December 15, 2000|accessdate=February 9, 2022}}</ref>
Evidence supporting his guilt in regard to charge of rape included the approximately 400 videos he took in which he engaged in ] activities. For the charge of manslaughter of Carita Ridgeway, the prosecutor produced an autopsy report showing traces of chloroform in Ridgeway's liver and a paper trail showing that the accused accompanied Ridgeway to the hospital before she died. In Blackman's case, however, the prosecutor could not produce any forensic evidence linking the accused to her death. Even the cause of her death could not be determined, as discussed below.<ref name="abc" />


⚫ ==Trial==
The judge stated that in deciding on the sentence he did not attach much importance to Mr Obara’s payment of “consolation money” to a number of his victims.<ref> The Times, April 24, 2007</ref>
In October 2000, Obara was charged with the drugging, rape and murder of Blackman, as well as the ] of Ridgway and the raping of eight other women.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":0" /> His trial began on July 4, 2001. On April 24, 2007, Obara was found guilty of multiple rape charges and manslaughter, but was ] of Blackman's rape and murder for lack of direct evidence.<ref name="BBC News">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6241831.stm|title=Man cleared over death of Lucie|website=]|date=April 24, 2007|accessdate=April 24, 2007}}</ref> Evidence supporting his guilt of rape included the approximately 400 videos shot by Obara, which showed him raping women (including one with Ridgway).<ref name=":3" /> For the charge of manslaughter, the ] produced an autopsy report showing traces of chloroform in Ridgway's liver and a paper trail showing that Obara accompanied her to the hospital before she died. In Blackman's case, however, the prosecutor could not produce any ] linking Obara to her death. Blackman's cause of death could not be determined.<ref name=":3" />


Blackman's father, Tim Blackman, accepted ]450,000 in ''mimaikin'' (condolence money) from a friend of Obara's. Her other family members were opposed to accepting the money.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lucies-father-helped-killer-by-accepting-blood-money-7209563.html|title=Lucie's father 'helped killer by accepting blood money'|date=20 April 2007|website=]}}</ref> Some of the money was used to establish the Lucie Blackman Trust (later called LBT Global), a charity providing safety advice for British people overseas, and assistance for families of British people missing, or murdered, abroad.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lbtrust.org/|title=Lucie Blackman Trust - Missing Abroad, Murder Abroad, Death Abroad|website=Lucie Blackman Trust - Missing Abroad, Murder Abroad, Death Abroad|language=en|access-date=February 25, 2019}}</ref><ref name="LBT_rename">{{cite news | url=https://onthewight.com/family-step-away-from-lucie-blackman-trust-which-rebrands-as-lbt-global/ | title=Family step away from Lucie Blackman Trust, which rebrands as LBT Global | date=10 November 2020 | website=On the Wight | accessdate=15 July 2024}}</ref> The judge stated that in deciding on the sentence he did not attach much importance to Obara's payment of "consolation money" to a number of his victims.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesonline.typepad.com/times_tokyo_weblog/2007/04/joji_obara_not_.html|title=Joji Obara: Not Guilty of Lucie Blackman Killing|newspaper=]|date=April 24, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927092843/http://timesonline.typepad.com/times_tokyo_weblog/2007/04/joji_obara_not_.html |archive-date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>
⚫ The Japanese judicial system has received some criticism for its handling of the case. It is believed that the police did not take this missing person case seriously "because Lucie was working illegally in a job from which women often flee without notice".<ref>{{cite news | author=Matt Weaver | date= April 24, 2007 | accessdate=2007-11-29 | publisher=] | title=Sevenoaks girl who hoped to spin blonde to go | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,2064446,00.html}}</ref> As a result, the discovery of the body came too late to determine the cause of the death. The verdict by a panel of three judges cited the lack of forensic evidence as a reason for acquittal. Some foreign media from common law countries also criticized the police for having leaked information in the case to the press that could cause a mistrial.<ref name="abc"/> However, as Japanese civil law system does not use juries, this cannot be grounds for a mistrial.


Former prosecutor Takeshi Tsuchimoto, now a professor of criminal procedure law at ] Law School, criticized the decision to acquit Joji Obara for the murder of Lucie Blackman by pointing to the conviction of ] due to circumstantial evidence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070425a6.html|title=Oddly, raft of circumstantial evidence not enough|accessdate=2008-02-04 |author= |date=2007-04-25 |work= |publisher=The Japan Times}}</ref> Former prosecutor Takeshi Tsuchimoto criticised the decision to acquit Obara for the murder of Blackman by pointing to the conviction of ] due to ].<ref>{{cite news|first=Linda|last=Sieg|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUST12139|title=Japan legal battle on Briton's death far from over
|work=]|date=April 25, 2007|accessdate=February 9, 2022}}</ref> The public prosecutor, however, ]ed the Blackman-related verdicts, as crucial forensic evidence had not been heard at the original trial, and on March 25, 2008, an appeal trial commenced in the ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/obara-pleads-not-guilty-in-appeal-trial-over-killing-of-blackman|title=Obara pleads not guilty in appeal trial over killing of Blackman|newspaper=]|date=26 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705182248/http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/obara-pleads-not-guilty-in-appeal-trial-over-killing-of-blackman|archive-date=July 5, 2008}}</ref> The court found Obara guilty on the counts of abduction, dismemberment and disposal of Blackman's body on December 16, 2008.<ref name="Brisbane"/> In early December 2010, the ] rejected Obara's appeal and upheld his life sentence.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article2836698.ece|title=Justice at last for Lucie Blackman family as 'evil' abductor is jailed|date=December 8, 2010|newspaper=]}}</ref>


⚫ The Japanese judicial system received criticism for its handling of the case. It is believed that police did not take Blackman's disappearance seriously "because Lucie was working illegally in a job from which women often flee without notice."<ref>{{cite news | first=Matt|last=Weaver | date= April 24, 2007 | access-date=November 29, 2007 | work=] | title=Sevenoaks girl who hoped to spin blonde to go | url=https://www.theguardian.com/japan/story/0,,2064446,00.html }}</ref> As a result, the discovery of the body came too late to determine the cause of death. The verdict, by a panel of three judges, cited the lack of forensic evidence as a reason for acquittal.<ref name=":3" /> Some foreign media from ] countries also criticised Japanese police for having leaked information to the press.<ref name="abc"/>
The public prosecutor has appealed the Blackman-related verdicts and on March 25, 2008 an appeal trial commenced in the ].<ref>Obara pleads not guilty in appeal trial over killing of Blackman]</ref>


==See Also== ==Media==
* On February 29, 2008, ] aired a US documentary titled ''Vanished in Japan'' related to the two deaths.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|last=Richard Straton|title=20/20 ABC Vanished Missing in Japan|date=2018-05-22|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWFb6f7Ehpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619131712/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWFb6f7Ehpg |archive-date=2020-06-19 |url-status=dead|access-date=2019-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/ABC-News-20-Vanished-Japan/dp/B001E0TWYU|title=ABC News 20/20 Vanished in Japan|website=www.amazon.com|date=7 August 2008 |access-date=2019-02-25}}</ref>
*''http://www.safetytext.co.uk''
*'']''{{snd}} a February 2011 book by ].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/19/lucie-blackman-richard-lloyd-parry-review|title=People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman by Richard Lloyd Parry – review|last=Morrison|first=Blake|date=February 19, 2011|work=The Guardian|location=London}}</ref>
⚫ *''http://www.lucieblackmantrust.org/pro/lbt.nsf/pages/home''
* On February 24, 2019, '']'' aired an episode revisiting the case.<ref name=":3" />
* ] Podcast: Episode 9, "The Beast With The Human Face"
* Asian Madness Podcast: Episode92, “Deadly Obsessions”
* ''Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case'' (Netflix, 2023)
*

==See also==
* ]
* ]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{Reflist|30em}}


==External links== ==External links==
* * {{snd}} BBC profile of Joji Obara
⚫ *

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Latest revision as of 15:37, 15 October 2024

Japanese serial rapist (born 1952)

Joji Obara (織原 城二, Obara Jōji), born Kim Sung-jong (Korean: 김성종; hanja: 金聖鐘) (born on 10 August 1952) is a Korean-Japanese serial rapist who raped between 150 and 400 women between 1992 and 2000. He was charged with drugging, raping and killing an English woman, Lucie Blackman; the rape and manslaughter of an Australian woman, Carita Ridgway; and the rape of eight other women.

In 2007, Obara was sentenced to life imprisonment on multiple rape charges and manslaughter but was acquitted in the Blackman case for lack of direct evidence. In December 2008, the Tokyo High Court found Obara guilty on the counts of abduction, dismemberment and disposal of Blackman's body. Blackman's death, as well as Obara's trial, received extensive press coverage internationally, especially in the United Kingdom.

Background

Joji Obara was born on 10 August 1952 to Zainichi Korean parents in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. During his youth, Obara's father worked his way from a scrap collector to the immensely wealthy owner of a string of properties and pachinko parlors. Obara was educated at private schools in Tokyo, and received daily tutoring in a variety of subjects. At age 15, he enrolled in a prestigious prep school affiliated with Keio University, virtually guaranteeing his acceptance into the university.

Two years later, following his father's death in Hong Kong, Obara inherited property in Osaka and Tokyo. After traveling extensively and graduating from Keio University with degrees in politics and law, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen and legally changed his name. Obara invested heavily in real estate speculation, gaining assets estimated as much as US$38 million. After losing his fortune and his firm during the 1990s recession, Obara was pursued by creditors and reportedly used his business as a money laundering front for the yakuza syndicate Sumiyoshi-kai.

Crimes

Obara was a habitual drug user who was reported to have a fetish for white women. He developed a pattern of criminal behavior, beginning with unlawfully administering drugs to render his victims unconscious, then abducting and raping them. Obara victimized women of both Japanese and Western backgrounds. Obara recorded his attacks on videotape, at least 400 of which were recovered by police, giving them cause to believe that he might have raped anywhere from 150 to 400 women. Police found extensive journals in which Obara made reference to "conquest play", a euphemism describing his sexual assaults on women whom he wrote were “good only for sex" and on whom he sought "revenge on the world" after drugging them with chloroform.

Carita Ridgway

Carita Simone Ridgway (March 3, 1970 – February 29, 1992) was an Australian model from Claremont, Western Australia, who was working in Tokyo's Ginza area as a bar hostess to earn money for acting school. Common in East Asian nations, "hostess" in this sense describes a modern form of geisha entertainer, i.e. young women at bars who are paid to engage in conversation with men, light their cigarettes, sing karaoke and sometimes dance – with a strict policy against men touching the hostesses or making sexual propositions. Popular hostesses often receive drinks, presents and social invitations from their favourite customers.

Ridgway, who was offered a lift by Obara, was drugged; this led to chloroform-related liver failure and brain death. Obara's culpability was exposed when, while using an alias, he took an unconscious Ridgway to the hospital claiming that she was suffering from shellfish-related food poisoning. Ridgway died after life support was stopped at her family's request; her body was cremated and repatriated to Australia. The cause of death was initially deemed hepatitis E, and there was no support for an investigation by the Australian embassy or by Japanese police as requested by the family. When police later searched Obara's home, they found a diary entry that read, "Carita Ridgway, too much chloroform", and a videotape of Obara raping Ridgway.

Lucie Blackman

Lucie Jane Blackman (September 1, 1978 – July 1, 2000), known as Lucie, was a British woman from Sevenoaks, Kent, who worked as a bar hostess in Tokyo. Blackman had previously worked as a flight attendant for British Airways and went to Japan to see the world and earn money to repay her debts. At the time of her death, she was working as a hostess at Casablanca, a nightclub later known as Greengrass, in Roppongi. On July 1, she went on a dōhan (paid date) with a Casablanca customer. Other than a few calls to a friend during the date, no one heard from her again.

Blackman's family flew to Tokyo and started a high-profile media campaign. They approached Britain's Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, who was visiting Tokyo at that time. Newspapers started publicizing Blackman's disappearance on July 13, when British Prime Minister Tony Blair mentioned the case during an official visit to Japan, where he met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. An information hotline was staffed by English expatriates, and an anonymous businessman funded a reward of £100,000.

As a result of the publicity surrounding the case, three foreign women came forward to describe waking up sore and sick in Obara's bed, with no memory of the night before. Several of them had reported him to Roppongi police, but were ignored. It was also around this time that police made the connection between cases via Obara.

On February 9, 2001, Blackman's body was found in a shallow grave under a bathtub in a seaside cave at Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Tokyo and a few hundred meters from Obara's apartment. The body had been cut into ten pieces and put inside separate bags, her head shaved and encased in concrete. The body was too decomposed to show the cause of death. According to Obara's indictment, he made Blackman a drink containing a drug before raping her at a condominium in Zushi, then killed her. Obara has maintained his innocence, claiming the drugs were voluntarily self-administered.

Trial

In October 2000, Obara was charged with the drugging, rape and murder of Blackman, as well as the manslaughter of Ridgway and the raping of eight other women. His trial began on July 4, 2001. On April 24, 2007, Obara was found guilty of multiple rape charges and manslaughter, but was acquitted of Blackman's rape and murder for lack of direct evidence. Evidence supporting his guilt of rape included the approximately 400 videos shot by Obara, which showed him raping women (including one with Ridgway). For the charge of manslaughter, the prosecutor produced an autopsy report showing traces of chloroform in Ridgway's liver and a paper trail showing that Obara accompanied her to the hospital before she died. In Blackman's case, however, the prosecutor could not produce any forensic evidence linking Obara to her death. Blackman's cause of death could not be determined.

Blackman's father, Tim Blackman, accepted £450,000 in mimaikin (condolence money) from a friend of Obara's. Her other family members were opposed to accepting the money. Some of the money was used to establish the Lucie Blackman Trust (later called LBT Global), a charity providing safety advice for British people overseas, and assistance for families of British people missing, or murdered, abroad. The judge stated that in deciding on the sentence he did not attach much importance to Obara's payment of "consolation money" to a number of his victims.

Former prosecutor Takeshi Tsuchimoto criticised the decision to acquit Obara for the murder of Blackman by pointing to the conviction of Masumi Hayashi due to circumstantial evidence. The public prosecutor, however, appealed the Blackman-related verdicts, as crucial forensic evidence had not been heard at the original trial, and on March 25, 2008, an appeal trial commenced in the Tokyo High Court. The court found Obara guilty on the counts of abduction, dismemberment and disposal of Blackman's body on December 16, 2008. In early December 2010, the Supreme Court of Japan rejected Obara's appeal and upheld his life sentence.

The Japanese judicial system received criticism for its handling of the case. It is believed that police did not take Blackman's disappearance seriously "because Lucie was working illegally in a job from which women often flee without notice." As a result, the discovery of the body came too late to determine the cause of death. The verdict, by a panel of three judges, cited the lack of forensic evidence as a reason for acquittal. Some foreign media from common law countries also criticised Japanese police for having leaked information to the press.

Media

See also

References

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