Who is Joji Obara and where is he now?
ONE of Joji Obara’s crimes is the focus of a new Netflix documentary.
The evil Japanese criminal was jailed in 2008 for a series of heinous attacks on women, though he evaded murder charges despite being accused of two separate killings.
Who is Joji Obara?
Joji Obara is a killer and serial rapist.
He was born in Osaka, Japan, but later moved to Tokyo.
Obara attended private schools and graduated from Keio University with degrees in politics and law.
He pursued a career in real estate, flipping properties for profit, but lost his firm in the 1990s recession.
After Lucie Blackman’s death, he was described as a “playboy millionaire”.
What did Joji Obara do to Lucie Blackman?
In July 2000, British air hostess Lucie Blackman was reported missing.
She was in the middle of a year of travelling and was working as a hostess at a club in Tokyo.
Her body was found in February 2001, seven months after she vanished.
Lucie’s body was found dismembered in a cave an hour outside of Tokyo, near a fishing village.
Obara had chopped Lucie’s body into eight pieces and encased her head in concrete.
In October 2000, Obara was charged with drugging, raping and killing Blackman.
He was acquitted of Blackman’s rape and murder in 2007 due to lack of direct evidence.
Obara was, however, jailed in December 2008 for abducting Lucie, and dismembering and disposing of her body.
The Japanese judicial system face criticism for its handling of the case and not investigating Lucie’s disappearance quickly enough.
Lucie’s death is explored in new Netflix documentary Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case.
What other crimes did Joji Obara commit?
In April 2007, Joji was cleared of Lucie Blackman’s rape and murder but was found guilty of nine other rape charges and manslaughter.
He is believed, however, to have raped between 150 and 400 women in Japan, using the drug chloroform to aid his attacks.
Obara recorded his crimes on videotape and kept a diary detailing his sickening actions, leading police to believe he may have up to 400 victims.
His 2008 manslaughter charge was for the 1991 death of Australian model Carita Ridgway.
Ridgway was allegedly raped and drugged by Obara, leading to chloroform-related liver failure and brain death.
Obara took to her to the hospital after giving her the drug, telling staff that she was having a bad reaction to shellfish.
At his trial, the prosecutor showed an autopsy report showing traces of chloroform in Ridgway’s liver and proof that Obara took her to the hospital before she died.
This led to him being charged for manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison.
Where is Joji Obara now?
Obara is serving his life sentence in prison.
The Supreme Court of Japan rejected Obara’s appeal in December 2010.