A Japanese death-row inmate, dubbed the “Black Widow” after she used cyanide to kill her elderly lovers, has died in a detention middle at age 78, officers mentioned on Friday.
Chisako Kakehi was sentenced to demise for the homicide of three males, including her husband, and the tried homicide of one other man a few decade in the past in a case that gripped Japan.
“Her demise was confirmed at a hospital on Thursday” after she was discovered mendacity in her cell on the Osaka detention middle, a justice ministry official instructed AFP.
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The explanation for demise has but to be decided, he mentioned. Japanese media mentioned it might be from an undisclosed sickness.
Kakehi’s demise sentence was upheld in 2021, with Supreme Court decide Yuko Miyazaki saying she had “used cyanide on the boys after making them belief her as a life accomplice.”
“It’s a calculated, merciless crime based mostly on a robust intent of homicide,” Miyazaki mentioned.
Kakehi reportedly amassed one billion yen ($9 million on the time) in insurance coverage payouts and inheritance over 10 years however subsequently misplaced many of the cash via unsuccessful monetary buying and selling.
She had relationships primarily with aged or unwell males and met some via relationship businesses, the place she reportedly stipulated that potential companions ought to be rich and childless.
The poison was discovered within the physique of no less than two of the boys she was concerned with and police reportedly discovered traces of cyanide within the garbage at her Kyoto dwelling.
Her companions’ deaths weren’t investigated instantly as a result of police initially decided they died from diseases, with no autopsies being carried out on most.
Her arrest solely got here after police found her most up-to-date husband, 75-year-old Isao Kakehi, died from cyanide poisoning. Police then started trying into the sooner instances and located a sample.
