Chisako Kakehi

JAPAN: ‘BLACK WIDOW’ SERIAL KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING THREE PARTNERS WITH CYANIDE COCKTAILS

November 7, 2017:

A serial killer dubbed Japan’s “black widow” received a death sentence for the murders of her husband and two common-law partners, as well as the attempted murder of an acquaintance, between 2007 and 2013.
The Kyoto District Court handed down the ruling of capital punishment to Chisako Kakehi, 70, although her defence counsel pleaded not guilty to the crime due to a lack of physical evidence, also arguing she cannot be held responsible as she suffers from dementia.
Prosecutors maintained that in all four cases, the victims were tricked into drinking cyanide given by a debt-ridden Kakehi, who was seeking to inherit their assets.
According to the indictment, Kakehi murdered her 75-year-old husband Isao, common-law partners Masanori Honda, 71, and Minoru Hioki, 75, and tried to kill her acquaintance Toshiaki Suehiro, 79, by having them drink cyanide.
Saying Kakehi premeditated the crimes, including the preparation of notary documents, prosecutors called her actions “shrewd and despicable,” as she tricked the victims into taking the cyanide by presenting it as healthy drink.
But defence lawyers said Kakehi could not be held responsible, noting her dementia had progressed and she was unable to comprehend the meaning of defending herself in the trial.
As not all the victims went through legal autopsy, the defence counsel claimed there was a possibility some of the victims died from disease or use of different drugs or poison.