Blackman's mother shocked at ruling; blames husband for taking 'blood money'

The mother of slain British woman Lucie Blackman said Tuesday she was in "complete shock" following the acquittal of Japanese businessman Joji Obara on all charges involving the death of her daughter. Jane Steare also criticized her former husband and Lucie's father, Tim Blackman, for accepting a 100 million yen condolence payment from Obara last September, which she called "blood money." She said Japanese prosecutors warned her and her ex-husband that it could affect the ruling.

The Tokyo District Court sentenced Obara to life in prison Tuesday for drugging and raping nine women, which included the subsequent death of Australian Carita Ridgway, but acquitted him of all charges related to Blackman due to lack of evidence.

Tim Blackman told a press conference in Tokyo that crucial evidence was not presented by the prosecution at Obara's trial and that he wanted the prosecutors to appeal against the district court's decision.

Speaking to Sky News, Steare, who stayed in Britain for the verdict, said, "I'm in complete shock. I never thought he would get acquitted."

"I'm pleased for Carita Ridgway's mother, Annette, that justice has been served for her and the other victims. I don't know whether he will stay in prison for life, though," Steare said.

She said she did not know why Obara had been found not guilty of raping and fatally drugging Lucie, aged 21, in 2000, as well as mutilating and abandoning her body.

Regarding the condolence payment, Steare told the TV station, "I don't know how you could take money from someone who has been convicted as being a rapist...I just don't understand it."

The court handed Obara, 54, the life sentence, as sought by the prosecution, in the cases of five foreign and four Japanese women. Of these, Ridgway died and two others suffered injuries.

Obara has already appealed the life sentence.

Explaining the ruling, presiding Judge Tsutomu Tochigi said there was no evidence to directly link Obara to the dismembering and abandonment of Blackman's body.

On the charge of raping Blackman resulting in death, Tochigi said that, unlike with other victims, there was no video recording of the rape and no evidence to prove the suspect administered any drugs to her or assaulted her.

The judge said although there were similarities between Blackman's case and the other women's, supposition was not enough given that the cause of her death was unknown.

Speaking to Sky News after the verdict, Tim Blackman said he was jubilant when he heard the word life imprisonment in court. But when he found out it did not apply to his daughter, "in just a few moments the six years we have been pushing and struggling...just disappeared in a few words."

He said that following the ruling he learned in a meeting with prosecutors that important evidence — which he did not go into details about — was not presented by the prosecution.

"Now we have started to find out more about the background and potential holes in the prosecution, we are sort of thinking that she deserves better than that. She deserves to get the justice she should have," he said.

He said he had "no regrets" about taking the condolence money and his daughter and Lucie's sister, Sophie, said the judge had told the court that receipt of the money had had no bearing on the verdict or sentencing.

Blackman also took aim at his ex-wife, who has not only criticized the condolence payment but also claimed Monday that her former husband "was a serial adulterer who put his own needs before those of his children."

He said, "The most regrettable thing is that Sophie and I are here, doing what we are doing, and yet it has taken this opportunity to kick off some sort of 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' against me on this matter, and it is wrong and just so inappropriate."

On the ruling, Sophie Blackman said, "I just felt distraught and shattered. I never anticipated acquittal. We are facing years and years of legal battles."

Obara pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in all 10 cases in the course of the trial, which lasted about six-and-a-half years.

On Blackman's case, the center of attention in the trial, the indictment said Obara made her drink a beverage laced with a drug before raping her at his condominium in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture, in July 2000. She subsequently died, and Obara was accused of dismembering her corpse and abandoning it in a beachside cave nearby.

The dismembered body of Blackman, who worked as a hostess in Tokyo before she went missing in early July 2000 about two months after arriving in Japan, was found in the cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, in February 2001.