Convicted rapist pleads guilty to strangling Japanese woman in New Orleans in 2003

Thursday 01st May, 06:04 AM JST

NEW ORLEANS —

A man accused in the 2003 strangling death of a Japanese tourist pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder, prosecutors said Wednesday. Timothy Joe Henson, who had served 15 years in prison for rape in Oklahoma, was accused of killing Kanako Oyama, 21, who had been touring the United States.

Criminal District Court Judge Byron C Williams sentenced Henson to life behind bars without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, Orleans Parish District Attorney Keva Landrum-Johnson said.

The Oyama family was represented in court by Japanese Consul Takeshi Tokairin, the district attorney’s office said.

Oyama’s partially nude body was found in a wooded area between the Mississippi River and a levee on Sept 4, 2003. She had arrived in New Orleans on Aug 31 of that year.

Henson, described as a transient from Oklahoma, has told investigators that he met the victim near the French Quarter on Sept 2. He said they traveled across the Mississippi River together and she was later strangled with a belt in an Algiers neighborhood.

New Orleans police said Henson was released from prison in Yukon, Oklahoma, in 2002, after serving 15 years for rape. He had been in New Orleans for about four months before Oyama’s killing, police said.

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7 Comments

rjd_jr at 07:32 AM JST - 1st May

Incredibly sad and tragic. Yet this kind of crime hardly gets the due outrage and multiple posts compared to other kinds of crime. I hope the sentence gives some measure of comfort to the unfortunate family of the victim, though lacking it is.
fireant at 09:15 AM JST - 1st May

life behind bars without the benefit of probation

I've never heard this one before. I've heard of life without the possibility of probation. Is this a new sentence or translation?

Condolences to Kanako's parents and family. I certainly hope they can remember the living woman rather than focus on her death.
boycottolympics at 10:24 AM JST - 1st May

The mind boggles as to howcome Japanese women always seem to get themselves into such situations overseas. She was their just 5days before she died & she met & hung out with a convicted felon. She obviously was so naive that she never suspected a thing. I think the fantasy land that many Japanese live in & the cool image of the US in their minds makes it only too easy for such predators. I hope any more women thinking about going to the US take some courses in being streetsmart!
rjd_jr at 10:47 AM JST - 1st May

I also forgot to mention, but as above post proves, that in these types of unfortunate crimes the tendency for people here is to somehow 'blame' the Japanese woman. For one thing, how is anyone supposed to know that an individual is a convicted felon, it's not like every single predator is 7 feet tall, with 'killer' tattooed acros his forehead. Second, say what you want about being 'naive,' but isn't it better to be friendly and open than being "xenophobic" and racist and making automatic assumptions about other cultures? Last, the fault here is solely that of the sick criminal who killed her, no one else, any woman of any nationality or color could have been in her position and been killed.
Yosuiko at 12:10 PM JST - 1st May

rjd_jr thankyou i was just thinking the same thing!!! to:boycottolympics so are you under the impression that american women in the US do not get raped as well, or were they all just too stupid and naive to know the "good" people from the "bad"
TheguyNextdoor at 02:02 PM JST - 1st May

I agree with rjd jr and yosuiko.
jambon at 02:22 PM JST - 1st May

Japanese diplomats have asked the police to give Japanese tourists better protection from criminals. The embassy's statistics showed there were 1,646 criminal cases with Japanese tourists as victims last year, and another 1,271 cases in the first six months of this year.

Thailand.

For some reason the Japanese tourist seem to be a magnet for trouble.