They met two African American men (19-year-old Richard Hinds and 23-year-old dancer James Jamari Blackston) at Tokyo Teleport Station after the concert, who offered to take them drinking in the Shibuya district.

[13] Hinds and Blackston were initially held for questioning on suspicion of sexually assaulting Furlong's unconscious friend on the back seat of the taxi,[14] with both men being charged with quasi-forcible indecency[15] on 29 May 2012.

[17] In July 2012, Japanese authorities announced that they were also investigating Blackston regarding a separate sexual assault allegedly carried out by him on another young woman in Kofu a few months previously.

[21] Testifying for the prosecution, Doctor Kenichi Yoshida, who performed the post mortem examination on Furlong, asserted that she had died of strangulation, and rejected suggestions by defence lawyers that alcohol played any role in her death.

Doctor Yoshida added that Furlong died a slow and painful death over several minutes, and scratch marks made by the victim herself as she fought back indicated she was in great distress as she was murdered.

[10] Doctor Kenta Aida, who had treated Furlong in the hospital emergency room, also gave evidence of administering injections of adrenaline in an attempt to revive her, as well as performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and inserting a plastic tube into her throat to keep her airways open.

Hinds insisted he was merely telling Blackston he would get cash from the automated teller machine to pay him back for drinks, however the prosecution asserted that he was actually referring to the pornography slang term 'ass to mouth', which was a clear indication of his intent to rape Miss Furlong.

[26] Lead prosecutor Kenji Horikoshi demanded a five-to-10-year jail sentence as punishment for Hinds, declaring that had shown no remorse and had "violated Nicola's dignity" with his false portrayal of her as a sexually aggressive woman.

Defence lawyer Kenji Hattori countered that there was not enough evidence to convict Hinds of murder, and that testimony given by Doctor Kenichi Yoshida was prejudiced in favour of the prosecution.

[37][38] Presiding Judge Masaharu Ashizawa disregarded Hinds's testimony of an accidental death in its entirety, countering that the fact it took Furlong several minutes to die from strangulation was a clear indication of murderous intent.

[47] Hinds release was originally projected for November 2017, but his parole was denied after prison officials deemed that he had "failed to convince authorities that he was remorseful for Nicola's murder.

[49] Shortly after returning to Ireland, the Furlong family announced they would launch a civil action against the Keio Plaza Hotel and sue for negligence, alleging they broke Japanese law by not checking if Nicola was on the guest register and allowing Hinds to bring her up to his room in a wheelchair while unconscious.

[50][41] In 2023, Richard Hinds posted pictures on his Facebook account[51] of him performing on tour with Sean2 Miles at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles and playing piano at the Faith Covenant Church in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.