Indiana
Northwest Indiana man trapped in Japan after being convicted of sexual assault fights to clear his name
A northwest Indiana man trapped in Japan for four years, fighting to clear his name.
Christopher Payne was convicted of sexually assaulting a Japanese woman, in a case that hinged heavily on DNA evidence.
There are so many issues with the DNA evidence in the case that Payne’s conviction has been overturned, and a retrial has been ordered. However, Chris is now facing severe health challenges, and his mother says she’s not sure how much longer he can survive in solitary confinement.
Pressing her palm against the inked outline of a hand is the closest Ronda Payne has come to a hug from her only child in more than four years. The outline was traced by Christopher inside his prison cell in Japan, half a world away.
“It’s the only physical thing that I have other than his letters,” Ronda said.
His words are a stark contrast to the young, adventure-loving Crown Point native who moved to Japan in 2013 after teaching himself Japanese as a teenager. He worked several jobs, including as an English teacher, and even found success in mixed martial arts.
The mother and son visited each other regularly until Nov. 25, 2021, when she got a call from a Japanese phone number she didn’t recognize.
“So I picked the phone up, and it was Chris’ boss. ‘Chris wanted me to let you know he’s been arrested,’” she said. “I said, ‘ Is it bad?’ They said, ‘It’s bad.’ What is it? A woman was attacked.”
But here comes the first of several twists—the crime had happened three years before.
In July of 2018, in the city of Ichikawa, a masked man followed a woman from a train station, threatened her, and sexually assaulted her while speaking fluent Japanese. Afterward, investigators recovered only trace DNA evidence from her mouth—mixed with her own—after she spat and rinsed her mouth before contacting police.
In a completely unrelated incident, in February 2020, Chris was arrested after drunkenly falling asleep in the entryway of a stranger’s home and consented to a voluntary DNA swab, not thinking twice about it. Then, in November 2021, police said they discovered that the DNA was “consistent” with that of the woman’s attacker.
“After that day, life stopped for me. It was over,” Ronda said.
“So, the victim originally reported to the police that she believed he was Japanese. He spoke during the attack, and spoke in perfectly unaccented Japanese, which is pretty much impossible to do for a non-native speaker,” said freelance journalist Gavin Blair.
Blair, who has lived and worked in Japan for more than two decades, began covering Chris’ case late last year. Not only did Chris not match the original suspect description, but the DNA evidence was anything but solid.
“They tested Chris’ DNA before the crime scene sample, which, as one of his lawyers described it, is like having the answer to the question before you take the test,” he said.
“It looked like they had… that they had been edited in some way,” said forensic DNA consultant Simon Ford.
Ford said he requested the underlying DNA data and found several significant issues.
Not only had the DNA files from the crime scene been edited to look more like Chris’ DNA — without any disclosure — but Ford discovered the DNA expert, appointed by the prosecution, also ran the test 34 times.
“What he did was he tested it over and over again, trying to hit the right value,” Ford said.
He said the DNA evidence would not have met admissibility standards in the United States.
“I think that this evidence really should just be disregarded,” Ford said.
After years of Chris refusing to confess to a crime he didn’t commit, these revelations were so significant that his legal team convinced the Tokyo High Court to overturn his guilty verdict in December of last year, and sent the case back to the Chiba District Court for a retrial.
After years of trying to convince anyone who would listen that her son was innocent and speaking out against Japan’s infamous legal practice, where suspects are held in prolonged pre-trial detention to coerce confessions, the high court’s ruling was an incredible turn of events, but not one that brought him home. Chris was denied bail until his retrial.
Blair said it could be another two or three years, but it’s not impossible to get the retrial.
“Prosecutors have huge amounts of power. Even judges are kind of wary of challenging their power,” he said.
As for Chris’ family.
“He has not talked on a phone. He has not hugged a person. He has not done anything in four years,” Ronda said. “As a mother, I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. I would not.”
And his legal time are trying to raise awareness of his case…
“His case is like a concentration of issues the Japanese justice system has,” said Kiyomi Tsunogae, Chris’ attorney.
And hopefully put some pressure on the court system. Recently, that urgency has deepened after Chris suffered repeated episodes of vomiting blood and persistent headaches. Concerns are now raised that he could die before the case is retried or before a final decision.
“That’s what I’m afraid of. me and other lawyers, too, and other supporters. Really, it’s, we are not exaggerating,” Tsunogae said.
He’s spent four years in solitary confinement. Chris sketched a picture of the cell — a tiny space that closes in around him day by day.
Meanwhile, his mother says she won’t stop speaking out until she can hold her son in her arms.
“That’s our baby,” she said.
Instead of the letters he sends from the other side of the world.
“I will keep surviving,” Ronda read. “I’m tired, mom, but I won’t disappoint you.”
CBS News Chicago reached out to Indiana Congressman Frank Mrvan about the case. His office reached out to the U.S. ambassador to Japan in May of 2025 and was told a consular officer had been conducting regular visits. He also reached out again last week in light of Payne’s now urgent health concerns.
Chris’ family also started a petition demanding due process for him in Japan, posted on Change.org.
U.S. senators from Indiana were also contacted, but neither could provide any guidance on the case. There is also no word yet from the U.S. Embassy in Japan.
(AP) — It could take several weeks to complete a recount — if one is sought — of the razor-thin margin in the Republican primary race between state Sen. Spencer Deery and his President Donald Trump-endorsed challenger.
The Indiana Recount Commission on Friday approved procedures for checking ballots in a possible recount just hours before the Tippecanoe County Election Board completed the final preliminary tallies in the Senate District 23 race.
As Tippecanoe County counted no additional ballots in the race, the totals from all six counties in the district showed Deery with a three-vote margin — 6,337 to 6,334 — over Fountain County Republican Chair Paula Copenhaver.
Recount filing period opened
Friday was the first day recount petitions could be filed with the state. A candidate has until noon Tuesday to do so, while any Republican county chair in the district faces a noon May 22 deadline to ask for a recount.
Copenhaver did not immediately seek a recount Friday, and neither she nor a campaign spokesman responded to messages from the Indiana Capital Chronicle seeking comment.
Deery, a first-term senator from West Lafayette, was among the Republican legislators targeted by Trump after voting against the congressional redistricting plan pushed last year by the president.
When asked about the prospect of a recount, Deery replied, “I don’t have anything to say about a request that hasn’t happened yet.”
Final tallies were also posted Friday in the Senate District 15 primary between Republican Sen. Liz Brown of Fort Wayne and challenger Darren Vogt.
Those results for the district, which is entirely in Allen County, showed Vogt picking up one vote from the preliminary figures. But Vogt still trailed Brown by 14 votes — 5,241 to 5,227.
Vogt did not respond to messages seeking comment about whether he would seek a recount.
Recount work could last into July
The state Recount Commission, meanwhile, approved Friday the selection of a recount director and guidelines for State Board of Accounts auditors in conducting any election reviews.
Recounts conducted in 2024 of two contested Indiana House primary races confirmed the initial results, finding only two miscounted ballots out of thousands.
But those reviews were not finalized until August — three months after the primary was held.
State Examiner Paul Joyce, who heads up the Board of Accounts, said after Friday’s commission meeting that the logistics are complicated for a recount spread over multiple counties.
The tight Deery-Copenhaver race involves all or parts of six counties spanning much of the area between Lafayette and Terre Haute.
Joyce said field auditors could need two days in each county to complete their work.
“If it’s in the six-county area, you’re talking a minimum of 12 on-site days,” Joyce told the Capital Chronicle. “It’s not going to surprise me if it’s into July. I would hope it’s done before the end of July and we don’t get into August.”
Morales responds to criticism
Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales is chair of the Recount Commission, along with Republican member Paul Mullin and Democratic member Michael Claytor.
Morales, who also chaired the commission during the 2024 recount, said “we are ready” to take up any requests.
“We’ve been preparing for this, just in case,” Morales told the Capital Chronicle. “If they will file a recount between today until noon next Friday, then we will be ready.”
Claytor asked at the end of the commission’s 15-minute meeting for Morales to respond to criticism of his role as the board’s chair because of his involvement with Turning Point USA, which endorsed Copenhaver, and public support of congressional redistricting.
“This is my duties, my responsibilities, and I will be chairing the Recount Commission,” Morales said. “If should there be any recount filed, we will be holding those meetings transparently for the public to see.”
The commission approved the appointment of attorney Jessica Dickinson as the recount director. Dickinson has been Indiana House parliamentarian, making her a key aide to Republican Speaker Todd Huston during legislative sessions. She has also worked for a Fishers law firm founded by Hamilton County Republican Chair Mario Massillamany and GOP state Rep. Chris Jeter.
WABASH, Ind. (WISH) — A motorcyclist is dead in Wabash County after striking a utility pole in the early hours of Saturday morning.
State police say just before 3 a.m., officers with the Wabash County Police Department attempted to stop a motorcycle after the rider ran a red light.
The motorcycle did not stop and “fled at a high rate of speed.” Just moments later, the motorcycle traveled off the roadway near the intersection of Miami Street and Walter Street, and struck a utility pole.
Despite life-saving efforts, the rider was pronounced dead at the scene.
The person’s name has not yet been released by the Wabash County Coroner’s Office.
State police are actively investigating the incident, and no further information has been released.
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Mother Nature is forcing one of central Indiana’s most popular spring festivals to move.
The Indiana Peony Festival has been rescheduled from Saturday, May 16, to Sunday, May 17, due to forecasted storms and high winds.
“After closely monitoring the weather overnight, and after doing everything we could to keep today’s plans in place, conditions have unfortunately taken a turn for the worse,” festival organizers said in a statement. “We are so incredibly sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen says he supports the festival’s decision to postpone until Sunday.
“While we can’t control the weather, this adjustment helps ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone involved. The city is ready to support the festival’s efforts for tomorrow, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to enjoy the event on Sunday,” Jensen said in a release.
Know Before You Go:
- Festival Hours: Remain the same — 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Location: Noblesville’s Seminary Park and Historic Downtown
- Events: Festival and Downtown Brunch and Retail Crawl Brunch & Blooms
For updated information, please visit indianapeonyfestival.com.
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