She was quivering and looked into the eyes of her eldest daughter Kristal and four-year-old granddaughter.
Nelson’s lawyer Rie Nishida said the verdict was “unreasonable” and they would fight until the end until she got her freedom.
Donna Nelson.
“We strongly believe her innocence. We’ll fight until the end,” she said.
“The suitcase is empty, and she actually checked it. So she cleared her doubt. Even if she had some doubt, she cleared her doubt.”
Australia’s Ambassador to Japan Justin Hayhurst was at the courthouse on Wednesday and told media after the verdict the Australian government would continue to provide consular support to Nelson and her family.
“The family’s having a difficult time on matters relating to the case. It’ll be for the lawyers and for the family to comment further,” he said.
“The Australian Government, for its part, will continue to engage with the family and to support them.”
In her testimony to the Chiba District Court last month, the mother of five broke down as she described how she started online dating after her divorce and she sparked a relationship with Kelly.
The pair communicated for more than two years before making plans to meet in Tokyo.
“At no point did I feel like Kelly was scamming me,” Nelson testified.
The Nigerian man flew her business class from Perth to Singapore and then on to Laos.
“I felt very happy because he was treating me like the queen,” she said.
He allegedly asked her to collect the suitcase.
“The only place I can get that suitcase is in Laos,” Kelly messaged Nelson.
“Okay, so what’s the plan? How are you? I miss you.”
Messages from Nelson to the man show her asking him to call and email more regularly.
“I don’t want to get hurt again,” she wrote.
“I will never hurt you, sweetheart,” he replied.
But when she arrived in Laos, there was no booking for her at the hotel. The man suggested she pay for a room at the Crown Plaza. Nelson sent a message saying she was thinking about going home and was worried.
“Please wait. The guy is at work. He will come with $1500 as soon as he finishes,” a message to her read.
The court heard Nelson only received the suitcase from Kelly’s “business manager” 15 minutes before checking out to fly to Japan.
There were clothing samples inside, but she didn’t notice anything strange about the case and placed her belongings in it before heading for her flight to Tokyo.
Judges had been deliberating on Nelson’s case for a week and Japanese prosecutors were pushing for a 10-year sentence.
Four of Nelson’s five daughters were in Japan to watch their mother give evidence.
On Tuesday, Hilaire said her mother’s world would have come tumbling down when she realised what was in the suitcase.
