アメリカ側からくるニュースは背筋が凍る。強姦殺人容疑者の裏と表の顔。相手を疑わない若い女性を見つけては甘い言葉で近づき、強姦目的でお酒を飲ませ、薬で酩酊させる。それが成功すれば泊まっているホテルに無理やり連れ込む。ホテルの車椅子を使うというのは初耳。すべて計画どうり、順調と思いきや被害者が突然目を覚まし騒いで抵抗を試みる。それを思わず首を絞めて黙らせようと腕力を振るう。その結末が女性の死。前の記事では強姦したとなっていたが、真相は法廷での解剖結果の証言で明らかになる。その悪魔の表側はキリスト信者で教会でキーボードを担当して、地域の住民に慕われる存在だったという。そんな記事が下に書かれている。呆れて何も言えない。今日初めて、アメリカのお茶の間のテレビのニュースに事件が伝えられたのを見る。それもアイルランドのニュースの引用に頼った報道で新しいものはない。ただ被害者の生前の写真、例の誕生日のケーキを両手で抱えて、ろうそくの光が可憐で美しい彼女の顔を浮かびだしている写真が画面いっぱいに映し出されて、見慣れてはいたけれど新鮮な胸の痛みを覚えた。
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American musician, 19, arrested as he confesses to strangling Irish student in Tokyo hotel room but insists he didn't mean to kill her
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 08:22 EST, 15 June 2012
A 19-year-old American musician has admitted to strangling an Irish student in Tokyo last month but insists he didn’t mean to kill her.
Japanese police arrested Richard Hinds, from Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday on suspicion of murdering Nicola Furlong, 21, in a hotel room on May 24.
Police suspect that Hinds killed Ms Furlong after she refused his sexual advances, according to Jiji Press, a Japanese news agency.
Hinds confessed to pressing his victim’s neck with his hands but said he did not mean to kill her, the agency reported.
Hinds, who graduated from Central High School Memphis last year and moved to Japan in April to pursue his music career, was captured on CCTV wheeling the student to his room at the Keio Plaza Hotel in the city’s Shinjuku district at around 1am on May 24.
In the footage, Ms Furlong appears to be unconscious in the wheelchair. Police believe that her drink may have been spiked and are waiting on toxicology results.
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Hinds, who has only recently been identified in the US media is a keyboardist from Memphis. He was traveling with his brother and some other Memphis musicians as part of Japanese Hip-Hop artist AI's tour. Blackston was a backup dancer with the tour. Recent reports out of Memphis indicate Hinds was very active in his church and very highly thought of in the community. Family and friends are adamant that he is innocent. Hinds has no previous criminal record in Shelby County.
アメリカ側のニュース。容疑者の家族側の対応が簡単に記されている。
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Memphis man, 19, accused of killing Irish exchange student in Japan
By Jody Callahan 、Memphis Commercial Appeal
Posted June 14, 2012 at 2:02 p.m., updated June 15, 2012 at 12:08 a.m.
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A 19-year-old Memphian has been arrested in Japan in the killing of an Irish exchange student.
Richard Hinds, a keyboard player who was touring with Japanese pop star AI, is accused of strangling Nicola Furlong, 23.
According to a report from the Irish Times newspaper, Japanese police said Hinds admitted strangling Furlong but said he wasn't trying to kill her.
Furlong was killed in a Tokyo hotel on May 24, after attending a Nicki Minaj concert in the city.
Hinds and another American arrested in the case, 23-year-old James Blackston, had been in custody for several weeks in the case.
Under Japanese law, suspects can be held for a considerable period of time as investigators build a case.
However, Blackston is no longer a suspect in the slaying, the newspaper said.
Police said security camera footage from the Keio Plaza Hotel shows Hinds arriving around 1 a.m., then using a hotel wheelchair to carry the unconscious Furlong to his room, the newspaper reported.
According to the newspaper, the footage confirms that nobody else entered the room until hotel staff went to check on Furlong a few hours later. She was rushed to a hospital but later declared dead.
Congressman Steve Cohen's office refused to discuss Thursday whether the family had reached out to the office for help.
Minister LaSimba Gray said he's been in touch with the Hinds family. "We did get (Cohen's office) to call the family and see what will be done," he said.
Hinds, a 2011 graduate of Central High, has no criminal record in Shelby County.
日本滞在し、実父が亡き娘がいない、そのままになった部屋でひと時を過ごす。どんなことが頭をよぎったのであろうか。その苦痛が指輪とラップトップに込められている。
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Nicola Furlong: Dad arrives home from Japan with Nicola’s rings and her laptop
By Mark Hilliard、Irish Independent
Wednesday June 13 2012
NICOLA Furlong's father has said he is confident Japanese police have a strong enough case to secure justice for his daughter's death.
Returning from Tokyo last night, Andrew Furlong wore Nicola's two precious rings around his neck having recovered her personal effects.
He also clung to the laptop he had bought the DCU student before her departure for Japan last year.
While he could not go into the details of his extensive meetings with investigating detectives, Mr Furlong said he was confident justice would be done.
"We got a lot of answers but we are kind of tied not to say too much," he said in Dublin Airport following an 11-hour flight from Asia with brother-in-law Denis Corrigan.
"The meetings were long, stressful, hard, and every day was worse than the previous one. You would think there would be an easier day when the next day comes but it's harder again."
It is now three weeks since Nicola (21) was found dead in a Tokyo hotel room after a night out at a Nicki Minaj concert with her Irish friend. Two men -- Americans James Blackston (23) and another 19-year-old -- remain in custody on a charge of assaulting Nicola's friend in the run-up to the tragedy.
Mr Furlong and Mr Corrigan flew out last Thursday and spent five intensive days with police and prosecutors and visited the university where Nicola had been studying to reclaim her personal property.
He spent some time alone in her room but said he would have found it far too difficult to visit the crime scene where his daughter's body was found.
"We got back her rings as well, which was emotional. It was nice to see where she was; the college were brilliant with us out there.
"The whole place couldn't do enough. I think Nicola is the first person in the college that something like this has happened to."
Police detailed the case they were building and Mr Furlong was required to give his recommendation on what penalty anybody convicted with her killing might face.
Heading to his home in Curracloe, Co Wexford, Mr Furlong said his priority now was simply to get home to his "angel" daughter Andrea (18).
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By Akiko Fujita、Jun 15, 2012 6:21am
Hinds is a well known Christian musician in the Memphis area, but had travelled abroad to work as a backup dancer to a Japanese R&B artist, according to WPTY-TV in Memphis. He planned to return home on June 20 before he was arrested.
