Joji Obara
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joji Obara (織原 城二 Obara Jōji?, born 1952 in Osaka, Japan) is a convicted rapist who was accused of the rape and subsequent deaths of two women, British hostess Lucie Blackman in the summer of 2000 and Australian Carita Ridgeway in 1992, and the rapes of six other women.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Joji Obara was born Kim Sung Jong to a poor Korean 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 pachinko parlours.[1] At 15, Obara enrolled in one of Japan's most elite high schools, a prep school affiliated with Keio University. Two years later, upon his father's death, he inherited holdings in Osaka and Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University with degrees in politics and law, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen and legally changed his name to Joji Obara.[1]
During the late 1980s and early 1990s Obara invested heavily in real estate speculation. After losing his fortune when the bubble burst and his firm collapsed, he reportedly used his business as a money laundering front for the yakuza syndicate, Sumiyoshi-kai.[2]
[edit] 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."[citation needed] 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.[3] [4] [5]
In October 2000, Obara was arrested and charged with the drugging, raping and death of Blackman and another hostess, 21-year-old Australian 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 Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture. She subsequently died.
Obara has maintained his innocence, claiming the drugs that caused her to die were self-administered.
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.[6]
[edit] Trial and verdict
Obara was charged with drugging, raping and killing Blackman, as well as raping of six other women and manslaughter of another hostess.[7]
On April 24, 2007 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.[8]
Evidence supporting his guilt in regard to charge of rape included the approximately 400 videos he took in which he engaged in date rape 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.[4]
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.[9]
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".[10] 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 also criticized the police for having leaked information in the case to the press that could cause a mistrial.[4] However, as Japan does not use juries, this cannot be grounds for a mistrial.
Former prosecutor Takeshi Tsuchimoto, now a professor of criminal procedure law at Hakuoh University Law School, criticized the decision to acquit Joji Obara for the murder of Lucie Blackman by pointing to the conviction of Masumi Hayashi due to circumstantial evidence.[11]
The public prosecutor has appealed the Blackman-related verdicts and on March 25, 2008 an appeal trial commenced in the Tokyo High Court.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Richard Lloyd Parry. "How the bubble burst for Lucie's alleged killer", The Times, August 17, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.
- ^ Death of a Hostess. TIME (2001-05-07). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
- ^ 60 Minutes Transcript – Night Stalkers Retrieved December 21, 2006
- ^ a b c Peter Martin. "PM –Japanese businessman arrested over rape of Australian woman", ABC News, April 9, 2001. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.
- ^ brisbanetimes.com.au "Evil behind Tokyo's lights"
- ^ This is London - Lucie's father 'helped killer by accepting blood money'
- ^ How the bubble burst for Lucie's alleged killer The Times, Timesonline August 17, 2005
- ^ Man cleared over death of Lucie BBC News retrieved April 24, 2007
- ^ Joji Obara: Not Guilty of Lucie Blackman Killing The Times, April 24, 2007
- ^ Matt Weaver. "Sevenoaks girl who hoped to spin blonde to go", The Guardian, April 24, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.
- ^ Oddly, raft of circumstantial evidence not enough. The Japan Times (2007-04-25). Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
- ^ [1]Obara pleads not guilty in appeal trial over killing of Blackman]
