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Lucie’s family faces suspected killer
The father and sister of a British woman whose dismembered body was found in a cave in Japan, have come face-to-face for the first time with the man accused of killing her.
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One theory was that the 21-year-old may have fallen victim to one of the myriad secretive and violent Japanese cults. Threats were also made in the phone call that Miss Blackman, who went missing more than a week ago, might be forced into prostitution.
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The next day, Miss Phillips received the threatening phone call. A close friend, who did not want to be named, said: ‘The man said she could not talk to Lucie and that she was starting a new life with him, that she had lots of debts and he was going to force her to pay them off.
‘He said she was going to join his ‘newly-risen religion’, which is what the Japanese call a cult. We fear she is being held against her will and could be forced into prostitution.
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Japanese cults have been known to target pretty Western women in order to use them to attract men to their sects.
- Source: Ex-BA air hostess feared kidnapped by Japanese cult, The Telegraph (England), July 10, 2000
Japanese property developer Joji Obara denies any involvement in the death of Lucie Blackman, 21, from Kent.
Miss Blackman, from Sevenoaks, was working as a bar hostess in Tokyo when she disappeared three years ago.
Her body was found in a cave 30 miles from Tokyo, in the southwest of Japan, months later.
Mr Obara, 50, is accused of abduction, fatal assault or rape resulting in death, and the disposal of Miss Blackman’s body.
He has faced trial for other offences and proceedings have been ongoing for some time.
Miss Blackman’s father and sister, Tim and Sophie Blackman, from the Isle of Wight, were in court in Tokyo for the first time on Thursday.
They heard evidence relating to Miss Blackman’s final movements.
They are in Japan for the first time since they took her body back to the UK for burial early in 2001.
Year-long trial
Mr Blackman spent thousands of pounds on his own investigation into his daughter’s disappearance.
It is thought the trial could last up to a year and Mr Blackman said he and his family were prepared to be patient.
He said: “There have been previous hearings for other offences first so it’s been playing on our minds, coming back for this particular trip.
“The climax has really been this afternoon, coming into this court and seeing Joji Obara.
“I was expecting sort of a nervous reaction, but I think we have become so involved in understanding the judicial system.
‘Our tails are up’
“The difficulty we expected to feel, I think it faded very quickly within the operation of the court.
“It was very strictly run, and it was very interesting.
“It is a real relief to have made this step, coming into the judicial system and seeing how the trial goes.
“It has been a long time and that has been valuable time for us to understand losing Lucie and get our strength back from the ordeal of the eight months of looking for her.
“After this trip we’ve got our tails up and we’d like to come back and witness the entire event and see it through to the end.”
Mr Obara denies all the charges against him and the trial continues.
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