brave_new_world
Apr 2, 2008, 17:49
Read the article. How dare Obara pleads not guilty in appeal trial?
Sick!
Obara pleads not guilty in appeal trial over killing of Blackman
Wednesday 26th March, 08:50 AM JST
TOKYO,JAPAN — The Tokyo High Court began an appeal trial on Tuesday for Joji Obara, who was sentenced to life in prison for raping and drugging nine women, including one fatally, but was acquitted of all charges relating to the high-profile case of the slain British woman Lucie Blackman. The defense team for Obara, 55, again entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, including fatal assaults, related to Blackman and Australian Carita Ridgway.
In the cases of the eight other women, they argued that the sentence of life imprisonment given to Obara in the April 2007 ruling by the Tokyo District Court was too severe. According to the district court ruling, Obara took each of the nine women to his condominium in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, at various times between February 1992 and June 2000, and raped them after drugging them with chloroform and other drugs. Among them were 21-year-old Ridgway, who subsequently died, and two Japanese women who suffered injuries.
Blackman, also 21 at the time, was working as a hostess in a Tokyo bar when she went missing in July 2000. She was found dead with her body dismembered in a cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, in February the following year.
The district court said Obara may have been involved in dismembering and abandoning her body but there was no evidence that directly linked him to the crime.
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Hawker's family pleads with public to help catch her killer
Tuesday 25th March, 06:46 AM JST
http://www.japantoday.com/images/size/200x/2008/03/2008_0324_hawker-parents.jpg
TOKYO, JAPAN — The family of Lindsay Ann Hawker on Monday appealed to the Japanese public to help catch the man suspected of killing the 22-year-old British teacher a year ago in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture.
Speaking in Japanese at the beginning of a news conference organized by the British embassy, Bill Hawker, Lindsay’s father, said: “Please find this guy (Ichihashi),” holding up a new wanted poster of the suspect, Tatsuya Ichihashi, who has been on the run for a year. Hawker was accompanied by his wife Julia and daughter Lisa. “She came to teach, not to be murdered.”
Asked if he is satisfied with the development of the investigation by the Japanese police, Hawker said, “Of course I’m very disappointed Ichihashi wasn’t caught immediately. I’m still disappointed that he’s not yet been caught. But I’ve not come here to criticize the Japanese police. I hope Japanese policy makers or politicians will make sure resources are available to continue the operation. Somebody somewhere must be hiding Ichihashi. How can he keep evading detection? Japan is a modern society. Surely somebody cannot just disappear.”
Holding her husband’s hand and trying to fight back tears, Julia Hawker said the family had launched a new hotline (03-6688-7677) in Japan for those who wish to leave anonymous information. Lisa also called on the Japanese public to help by saying, “My sister was a wonderful girl and she loved your country. Please do not forget what happened to her.”
Hawker’s body was found in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of Ichihashi’s apartment in Ichikawa on March 27, 2007. Ichihashi managed to escape from police officers who called at his apartment after the language school she worked for reported to the police that she had been missing.
The Hawker family are scheduled to appeal to Chiba locals on Tuesday, distributing new wanted flyers and holding a candle-lit vigil for Lindsay at a bar in Ichikawa before returning to England on Wednesday.
Sick!
Obara pleads not guilty in appeal trial over killing of Blackman
Wednesday 26th March, 08:50 AM JST
TOKYO,JAPAN — The Tokyo High Court began an appeal trial on Tuesday for Joji Obara, who was sentenced to life in prison for raping and drugging nine women, including one fatally, but was acquitted of all charges relating to the high-profile case of the slain British woman Lucie Blackman. The defense team for Obara, 55, again entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, including fatal assaults, related to Blackman and Australian Carita Ridgway.
In the cases of the eight other women, they argued that the sentence of life imprisonment given to Obara in the April 2007 ruling by the Tokyo District Court was too severe. According to the district court ruling, Obara took each of the nine women to his condominium in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, at various times between February 1992 and June 2000, and raped them after drugging them with chloroform and other drugs. Among them were 21-year-old Ridgway, who subsequently died, and two Japanese women who suffered injuries.
Blackman, also 21 at the time, was working as a hostess in a Tokyo bar when she went missing in July 2000. She was found dead with her body dismembered in a cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, in February the following year.
The district court said Obara may have been involved in dismembering and abandoning her body but there was no evidence that directly linked him to the crime.
================================================== =
Hawker's family pleads with public to help catch her killer
Tuesday 25th March, 06:46 AM JST
http://www.japantoday.com/images/size/200x/2008/03/2008_0324_hawker-parents.jpg
TOKYO, JAPAN — The family of Lindsay Ann Hawker on Monday appealed to the Japanese public to help catch the man suspected of killing the 22-year-old British teacher a year ago in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture.
Speaking in Japanese at the beginning of a news conference organized by the British embassy, Bill Hawker, Lindsay’s father, said: “Please find this guy (Ichihashi),” holding up a new wanted poster of the suspect, Tatsuya Ichihashi, who has been on the run for a year. Hawker was accompanied by his wife Julia and daughter Lisa. “She came to teach, not to be murdered.”
Asked if he is satisfied with the development of the investigation by the Japanese police, Hawker said, “Of course I’m very disappointed Ichihashi wasn’t caught immediately. I’m still disappointed that he’s not yet been caught. But I’ve not come here to criticize the Japanese police. I hope Japanese policy makers or politicians will make sure resources are available to continue the operation. Somebody somewhere must be hiding Ichihashi. How can he keep evading detection? Japan is a modern society. Surely somebody cannot just disappear.”
Holding her husband’s hand and trying to fight back tears, Julia Hawker said the family had launched a new hotline (03-6688-7677) in Japan for those who wish to leave anonymous information. Lisa also called on the Japanese public to help by saying, “My sister was a wonderful girl and she loved your country. Please do not forget what happened to her.”
Hawker’s body was found in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of Ichihashi’s apartment in Ichikawa on March 27, 2007. Ichihashi managed to escape from police officers who called at his apartment after the language school she worked for reported to the police that she had been missing.
The Hawker family are scheduled to appeal to Chiba locals on Tuesday, distributing new wanted flyers and holding a candle-lit vigil for Lindsay at a bar in Ichikawa before returning to England on Wednesday.