In 2012 Nicola Furlong was murdered while visiting Tokyo. Her two killers are walking free after just 3 and 10 years in prison.
In 2012, May 23rd, 21 year old Nicola Furlong, an Irish national studying abroad and a female friend are in Tokyo for a concert, when during the event they met 19 year old Richard Hinds and 22 year old James Blackston, two American tourists. Security footage shows the women passing out and the two men escorting them with wheel chairs to a taxi, assaulting them the entire time. The two were then kidnapped to a Keizo Plaza where at 3 am Nicola had died, strangled to death by a piece of clothing or towel. Richard then attempted cpr on Nicola along with hotel staff who had arrived over a noise complaint. Nicola was declared dead in a Tokyo hospital around 4:00.
Hinds claimed both in initial interrogation and that it was consensual rough sex gone wrong, but security footage showed the girls unresponsive and unable to walk while the pair discussed the plan to assault and leave them in the room . The autopsy showed extensive neck bruising and Xanax in their system. Richard Hinds was charged in 2013 of sexual assault and murder and sentenced to a maximum of ten years in a labor prison being released and allowed to return to America in 2022. James Blackston was sentenced to 3 years for sexual assault. Nicolas family was mortified.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-21771870.amp
In memory of Nicola Furlong, the girl with sparkling eyes.
In 2012, May 23rd, 21 year old Nicola Furlong, an Irish national studying abroad and a female friend are in Tokyo for a concert, when during the event they met 19 year old Richard Hinds and 22 year old James Blackston, two American tourists. Security footage shows the women passing out and the two men escorting them with wheel chairs to a taxi, assaulting them the entire time. The two were then kidnapped to a Keizo Plaza where at 3 am Nicola had died, strangled to death by a piece of clothing or towel. Richard then attempted cpr on Nicola along with hotel staff who had arrived over a noise complaint. Nicola was declared dead in a Tokyo hospital around 4:00.
Hinds claimed both in initial interrogation and that it was consensual rough sex gone wrong, but security footage showed the girls unresponsive and unable to walk while the pair discussed the plan to assault and leave them in the room . The autopsy showed extensive neck bruising and Xanax in their system. Richard Hinds was charged in 2013 of sexual assault and murder and sentenced to a maximum of ten years in a labor prison being released and allowed to return to America in 2022. James Blackston was sentenced to 3 years for sexual assault. Nicolas family was mortified.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-21771870.amp
In memory of Nicola Furlong, the girl with sparkling eyes.