Cause of death Strangulation Known for Murder victim | Nationality Irish | |
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Born 17 December 1990 ( 1990-12-17 ) Wexford, Ireland Died 24 May 2012(2012-05-24) (aged 21)
Keio Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo | ||
Nicola Furlong (17 December 1990 - 24 May 2012) was an Irish female exchange student who was murdered in Japan.
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Murder
Nicola Furlong was found dead on May 24 in Tokyo at the Keio Hotel in Tokyo's Shinjuku ward. She and another Irish exchange student had attended a concert by Nicki Minaj earlier that evening and remained in Tokyo after missing their train home.
Police arrested two American men, 19-year-old Richard Hinds, and 23-year-old dancer, James Jamari Blackston, who allegedly invited Furlong and her friend for drinks after meeting them at the Nicki Minaj concert. Hinds was subsequently charged with the murder of Furlong. During the trial in 2013, Hinds claimed he put his hands around Furlong's neck after she indicated she wanted rough sex, and that he had no intentions of killing her, but this was rejected by the prosecution, who claimed that Hinds tried to rape Furlong while she was unconscious, only for her to wake up and scream. Hinds then strangled her. According to police, Furlong's friend was sexually assaulted in the taxi on the way to the hotel while both women were unconscious. Once they arrived at the men's hotel, the hotel provided a wheelchair to take the comatose girls to the men's rooms. Police said the groping that took place in the taxi was captured on a security camera, as was the entrance of the two women to the hotel in wheelchairs being pushed by the two men.
Conviction
On 19 March 2013, U.S. musician Richard Hinds was found guilty and sentenced to between five and ten years in Tokyo prison for the murder of Furlong.