Suspect Arrested in Tokyo Hostess Killing

T O K Y O, April 6 -- Nine months after a young British woman disappeared mysteriously in Japan, police today said they had formally arrested a suspected serial rapist for causing her death.

"We arrested Joji Obara on suspicion of kidnapping andassault which resulted in death, and mutilating and abandoning a body in relation to Lucie Jane Blackman," police spokesman TadaoSugawara told reporters.

The arrest, which police described as a "milestone," is thefirst time that property developer Obara, 48, has been formallylinked to Blackman, whose disappearance last summer sparked amedia frenzy in Britain and threw a harsh spotlight on Tokyo'ssleazy underworld.

But Obara had long been the prime suspect, even more so afterpolice found Blackman's dismembered body partly encased in concreteand buried in a cave only a stone's throw from a beach-frontapartment that he used.

By that time, Obara was in jail facing five charges of rapingJapanese and foreign women and another charge involving sexualviolence resulting in the death of a young Australian woman.

Charges Denied

Obara has denied those charges, saying the sex wasconsensual, and police said today he was exercising his rightto silence on the charge relating to Blackman.

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"The suspect, in July 2000, told English woman Lucie JaneBlackman — 21 at the time — 'Let's have lunch together', andtook her to a condominium in Zushi city in Kanagawa Prefecture,"Sugawara said, confirming what media have been reporting formonths.

"He plied her with drinks laced with drugs and made her losecontrol of her body and mind and assaulted her. That resulted inher dying of drug intoxication," he added.

He said Obara then mutilated Blackman's body before burying herin a seaside cave near one of his homes.

Awkward Questions

Blackman's death brought unwelcome attention on a side of Japanthat is a world away from conventional images of cherry blossomand geisha girls.

Blackman, a former British Airways flight attendant, had beenworking at a hostess bar in the Roppongi entertainment districtin Tokyo and vanished after saying she was going for a drive witha man on July 1.