Here are a few updates on the case of Nicola Furlong, an Irish student who was found dead in a Tokyo hotel room last month:
Two American men remain in police custody. They have already been charged with sexually assaulting Furlong’s drunk friend, but so far there has been no murder charge. The Irish media has reported that police are detaining the men while the investigation into Furlong’s death continues. “The standard of evidence for laying formal charges is extremely high and it is common for suspects to be held for considerable periods while police build a case.”
Japanese police have not been keeping the Furlong family updated about the investigation. Nicola’s father has flown to Japan to seek answers about what happened
Nicola’s boyfriend has told the media about his pain and sorrow
Black Tokyo dot com claims to be in contact with a person “close to investigation” who is able to provide information that the Japanese police have not released to the public. Here are some of the blog’s claims:
Furlong’s highly intoxicated friend “admitted to willingly going with XX and Blackston to the hotel.” According to the blogger’s analysis “by Japanese standards, that leaves a lot of questions about consent and what happened in the cab under the guise of the law.”
Despite Japanese media & police reports about the men forcing the two drunk girls into a taxi, they actually “helped” the girls get into the vehicle.
The two Americans may not be responsible for the girls’ intoxicated state: “before Furlong and XO left the club – AND BEFORE THE OTHER GIRL GOT REALLY DRUNK – the two of them went outside with a white guy. When the women returned they were suddenly “DRUNK” or in an intoxicated or high state.”
Furlong’s death “may have more to do with rough sex than intentional murder.”
Black Tokyo has also tried to construct a detailed timeline of the events in the case. The “maybe some other guy who drugged them” theory is further explored in a blog post about GHB.
Initial media reports suggested that the two Americans were involved in the Nicki Minaj concert that Furlong and her friend attended earlier on the day of the suspected murder. However, Minaj denied that the men were connected to her tour. It is now being reported that they were actually members of a Japanese musician’s tour:
James Blackston danced on stage with the Japanese hip-hop star AI who was born in LA, but raised both there and in Kagoshima, Japan.
AI has performed with top US acts including Snoop Doggy Dog, Chaka Khan and the Jacksons and her hit single ‘Story’ has logged 3.5m downloads.
It is understood that Blackston (23) who goes by the stage name King Tight or KT, was touring Japan as part of AI’s Independent Tour 2012.
He performed with her at the Koriyama Fukushima Prefecture the day before he allegedly met Nicola (21) and her friend who had travelled from their university at Takasaki , about 100km from Tokyo.
And he gave a special King Tight workshop for children at a dance school at Sendai where he taught the moves to AI’s songs.
Neither Blackston or the other man detained by Japanese police, have been charged with the rape or murder of Nicola Furlong.
The American media, unbound by the Japanese media’s restrictions on reporting the minors suspected of criminal acts, has reported on the identity of the man who was found alone in a hotel room with Furlong’s body.
Here is how the local media in Tennessee are reporting about it:
The pastor from his church has told the press that the suspect was a good kid:
“It was extremely shocking. I still have some moments of disbelief, because I know [x] personally. The accusations just don’t sound like his character,” Nichols said. “He’s very honest, very open, very transparent.”
One can also find clips of his music on YouTube. His musical talent is evident in the videos, and unlike James Blackston, there is no video of him acting like a complete asshole on a train in Japan.
(Near the end of that TN local news video, they interview a random tourist who claims a friend was detained by Japanese police for 3 days, where the friend’s was shaved and he was forced to eat “fish heads and rice.” Sounds like that deserves a news report of its own…if it’s true.)
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