Japan’s “Black Widow” death row inmate, Chisako Kakehi, dies at 78
Japanese death row inmate known as “Black Widow” Killed her elderly lover with cyanideHe died in a detention center at the age of 78, officials said Friday.
Chisako Kakehi was sentenced to death for the murder of three men, including her husbandas well as an attempted murder of another man in Japan about a decade ago.
She was found lying in her cell at an Osaka detention center and “her death was confirmed at a hospital on Thursday,” an official told AFP.
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The cause of death has not yet been determined, he said. Japanese media said this could be caused by an undisclosed illness.
In 2021, Kakehi’s death sentence was upheld, with Supreme Court Justice Yuko Miyazaki saying she “administered cyanide to these men after getting them to trust her as their lifelong partner.”
“This was a well-planned and brutal crime based on strong intent to murder,” Miyazaki said.
Kakehi reportedly amassed 1 billion yen (then $9 million) in insurance payouts and inheritances over 10 years, but later lost much of the money through unsuccessful financial transactions.
She primarily had relationships with older or sick men and met some men through dating agencies, reportedly stipulating that prospective partners should be wealthy and childless.
The poison was found in the bodies of at least two men linked to her, and police reportedly found traces of cyanide in the trash at her Kyoto home.
Her partner’s deaths were not immediately investigated as police initially determined they died of illness and no autopsies were performed on most.
Her arrest came after police discovered her recent husband, 75-year-old Isao Kakehi, had died of cyanide poisoning. Police then began investigating earlier cases and discovered a pattern.
