Japanese court sentences 'black widow' serial killer to death

TOKYO - A serial killer dubbed Japan's "black widow" was given a death sentence on Tuesday for murders of three men including her husband and attempting murder of another.

The Kyoto District Court sentenced 70-year-old Chisako Kakehi to death, who had been accused of killing her husband and two lovers by tricking them into drinking cyanide so as to get insurance money and inherit their assets.

"It was a heinous crime driven by greed for money. The death sentence cannot be avoided even after fully taking into account dementia and other factors," Presiding Judge Ayako Nakagawa was quoted as saying in the ruling.

The defense lawyers had tried to acquit Kakehi, arguing that there was not enough physical evidence and that Kakehi could not be held responsible for her dementia.

The court, however, stressed that Kakehi did not suffer dementia when she committed the last crime in December 2013.

The defense lawyers said they will appeal the ruling to a higher court.

Kakehi was first arrested in November 2014 in Kyoto Prefecture and was indicted a month later on suspicion of murdering her husband Isao, with cyanide. The couple had been married for just one month when Isao was fatally poisoned.

Kakehi was later indicted in connection with the death of a couple of her lovers.

According to media reports, Kakehi started her first marriage at the age of 24 and founded a fabric printing company. Following the death of her first husband in 1994, however, her company went bankrupt and her house was put up for sale.

Kakehi later registered herself with a number of matchmaking services, where she specified that she was looking for men owning land or property, having no children, elderly and living alone.

Kakehi allegedly received around 1 billion yen in insurance and other payouts from assets over ten years, following the deaths of four of her late partners, including Isao and a host of other lovers.

The woman used the inheritance to buy risky stocks and also invested in dodgy real estate, the reports said, adding that she had lost most of her acquired wealth and got into debt on ill-advised investments.