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.
