Obara gets life for drugging, raping 9 women; acquitted in death of Lucie Blackman

The Tokyo District Court sentenced Joji Obara, who was indicted for drugging and raping 10 women including Briton Lucie Blackman, to life in prison Tuesday, but acquitted him of charges related to Blackman's death.

The court handed Obara, 54, the life sentence in connection with the rape and drugging of nine of the women, including Australian Carita Ridgeway who died.

But the court found Obara not guilty of the charges involving Blackman, who was 21 at the time of her death, including raping and fatally drugging her and mutilating and abandoning her body.

Obara was indicted on charges of drugging or raping the women, two of whom died and two were injured, between February 1992 and July 2000.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.