the remains of her male companion. Nozomi had been stabbed at least six times, covered with gasoline and set on fire about 10 meters from the car. It was reported that Nozomi's companion was a company employee in Nagano Prefecture, and that in what the police called a possible murder-suicide pact, the man had burned himself to death inside the car. The remains were so badly charred that it took hours of testing before investigators could even determine that the remains belonged to a male. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, "Nozomi seemed to have something Japan's myriad other porno starlets lacked and, at just 24, she was on her way up in the world before her tragic end." In the months after the incident, the parents of Momoi's male companion objected to the murder-suicide theory and many inconsistencies were pointed out. His parents unsuccessfully brought a case against the local police and when their insurance company refused to pay because of their son's supposed suicide, they sued Sumitomo Life Insurance. In October 2006, the civil court at Nagano ruled in favor of the parents that the two deaths were due to murder by a third party. No further progress had been made in the criminal case. Notes Bibliography 1978 births 2002 deaths Japanese pornographic film actresses Japanese murder victims Actresses from Tokyo 21st-century Japanese actresses