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- Obara acquitted over Lucie death but gets life
A Japanese businessman has been acquitted of charges over the death of British bar hostess Lucie Blackman. But Joji Obara was sentenced to life imprisonment for a series of rapes, Kyodo news agency said. It was not immediately clear if the rapes for which Obara was convicted included that of Ms Blackman. - (Newsroom)
- FURY OF LUCIE DAD AT 'KILLER' WEBSITE
  THE father of murdered bar hostess Lucie Blackman has spoken of his “distress” after extracts from her diary were published on the website of the man accused of killing her. Japanese businessman Joji Obara, 54, is on trial in Tokyo for the abduction and rape of the 21-year-old, whose dismembered body was found seven months after she disappeared in the summer of 2000. He has denied the charges and the rapes of eight other women.
- A tale of rape, murder and a Japanese playboy
- Japan: British girl murdered by Jap found buried in bath of sand
  Police in Japan were hunting a wealthy student last night after the murder of a British woman who was found buried in a bath full of sand. Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, had recently begun working at an English language school in Tokyo.
It is believed her killer, who had dragged the bath on to the balcony, may have been preparing to bury the body in concrete.
It was reported that when police raided the flat and found the bath, one hand was sticking out of the sand.
Detectives yesterday issued a warrant for the arrest of 28-year-old Tatsuya Ichihachi. He had been receiving private tuition from Miss Hawker and her body was found in his fourth-floor flat.
Ichihachi fled barefoot when police confronted him and was still at large last night.
Yoshihiro Sugita, the chief investigator, said: "The bathtub was left out on the balcony and the (corpse) was left there in the bathtub. ''Furthermore, the corpse was covered with dirt as if to hide it."
- Details of Lindsay's shocking death exposes a dark side to Japan
The 22-year-old English language teacher was tortured by her Japanese attacker before being strangled, forensic tests have shown. She was tied up and repeatedly beaten over several hours by the killer in the Tokyo flat owned by prime suspect Tatsuya Ishihashi. "It would have been a long and terrifying time for her," a police officer said. "Judging by the bruising on her body and the fact that our examination showed she was tied up for a long period of time before her death suggests she went through a great deal of pain and fear before she died."
- JAPAN: Slain Briton, suspect caught on cafe security tape - (Newsroom)
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Stephen Soules, of Scottsville, pleaded guilty to raping, sodomizing and killing Katie Autry. He avoided the death penalty by agreeing to testify against Goodrum. It turns out it was no ordinary fire. Autry was torched alive in attempt to cover up the sexual assault. She was sprayed with an aerosol hairspray can, lit on fire, and left to die. - (Newsroom) - (crime) - (Black-on-white) 
SAN FRANCISCO -- An emotional judge was near tears today as she sentenced David Hill to life in prison without parole for AK-47 murder of San Francisco police Officer Isaac Espinoza and the attempted murder of his partner. In finding Hill guilty of an enhancement of having intended to kill a police officer, the jury of five men and seven women made him eligible for life in prison without parole. The jurors also found Hill guilty of attempted murder for wounding Espinoza's partner, Officer Barry Parker, and of illegal use of a firearm for gang purposes. - (Newsroom) - (crime) * Officer Isaac Espinoza Memoriam
ATLANTA -- Police are looking for a rape suspect who kidnapped a woman at knife-point. The abduction took place in southeast Decatur in the Waters Run neighborhood back in January. Officials say they fear the suspect could strike again. Authorities say a 33-year-old woman was attacked as she left a relative’s home at 3 a.m. Police say they believe the suspect was cruising neighborhoods in the area before carrying out the well-planned rape. The victim says the man approached her and talked with her before producing a knife and forcing her into his vehicle. She then experienced hours of abuse in the rapist’s car. Police are looking for a black male, 25-30-years-old, five foot eight to five foot nine. He has a photo tattoo on his left bicep. Officials also say he drove an older model Cadillac Seville. - (Newsroom) - (crime) 
Beaufort Police are looking for a man they say tried to homosexually assault one male student and another man on a school campus. The Technical College of the Low Country campus in Beaufort is typically a quiet place. "The victim was sitting inside the student lounge at TCL, a black male walked up to him with a knife."
Police say the suspect made sexual propositions to the male student and when he said no, the man brandished a knife and tried to force him into the bathroom. Police say the same thing happened to another man out in the parking lot. - (Newsroom) - (crime) 
Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, is out on bond facing charges of Driving While Intoxicated. Police said Dutton, 62, was arrested after speeding in downtown Austin on Wednesday night. Dutton refused to take a breathalyzer test or submit blood samples. He was released from Travis County Jail early Thursday on personal recognizance, according to a jail spokesman. - (Newsroom) 
Psa 55:15 Let death seize upon them, [and] let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness [is] in their dwellings, [and] among them. 
Chandler police said Tuesday that a fourth sexual assault has been linked to a serial rapist accused of attacking 
JACKSON, Miss. -- Mayor Frank Melton and two police bodyguards used sticks and sledgehammers to destroy a duplex the mayor considered a "crack house," witnesses testified Tuesday on the opening day of the trial. Melton, a tough-talking former television executive elected on a platform of rooting out the city's crime problems, faces four felony charges in the attack on the duplex last August. The judge on Tuesday dismissed a fifth charge of directing a minor to commit a felony. 
Philippine police have identified a local woodcarver as a suspect in the killing of a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in a northern mountain village, and are following up leads on a possible accomplice, officials said Monday. Senior Superintendent Pedro Ganir, police chief of Ifugao province, where 