Chisako Kakehi (diagnosed with Alzheimers disease)
Sentenced to Death Nov 7, 2017
Confirmed by the High Court on May 23, 2019.
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HIGH COURT RULING
Death penalty upheld for Japan's 'black widow' serial killer
May 24, 2019 (Mainichi Japan)
Chisako Kakehi is seen in this file photo taken in Nagaokakyo, Kyoto Prefecture, on Oct. 7, 2014. (Mainichi/Ryoichi Mochizuki)
OSAKA (Kyodo) -- The Osaka High Court on Friday upheld the death penalty imposed on a 72-year-old woman dubbed Japan's "black widow" for murdering her husband and two common-law partners with poison to inherit money and escape debt.
In handing down the sentence to Chisako Kakehi, Presiding Judge Hiroaki Higuchi said there was no error in the lower court ruling that recognized she had murdered the three men and attempted to murder another. The judge also rejected her lawyers' claim that she cannot be held responsible due to dementia.
"The crimes were premediated and she properly understood the situation," the judge said, touching on capsules containing cyanide that were prepared for the victims.
The lawyers for Kakehi, who has pleaded not guilty, immediately appealed the ruling.
According to the ruling, Kakehi murdered her 75-year-old husband Isao Kakehi and common-law partners Masanori Honda, 71, and Minoru Hioki, 75, and tried to kill her acquaintance Toshiaki Suehiro, 79, by having them drink cyanide.
The cases, which took place in western Japan between 2007 and 2013, drew much attention, with the media portraying her as a woman who preyed on wealthy and elderly men.
Kakehi, who registered with a matchmaking service, married or was associated with more than 10 men and inherited about 1 billion yen ($9 million), though she eventually fell into debt following her attempts to speculate in stocks and futures trading.
At the Osaka High Court, the lawyers called for new psychiatric tests to check whether Kakehi is competent to stand trial. But the request was rejected, opening the way for Friday's ruling.
Kakehi did not appear in the first and only hearing at the high court in March, but attended on Friday. A defendant has no obligation to attend an appeal trial.
She talked quickly when the judge asked her name and birth date, and looked as though she was wiping her tears when hearing the ruling.
The Kyoto District Court ruling in November 2017 acknowledged that the defendant had developed dementia from around 2015, but determined that she was competent to defend herself at trial because the symptoms were not serious and the progress of the disease slow.
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NATIONAL / CRIME & LEGAL
‘Black widow’ murder case casts shadow on lonely hearts among Japan’s elderly
KYODO
KYOTO – The sensational case of a serial killer, dubbed Japan’s “black widow” and accused of killing elderly men — all of whom she met through a matchmaking service — has cast a shadow over a growing trend of elderly Japanese people seeking partners.
The case of 70-year-old Chisako Kakehi — who repeatedly met, dated and married elderly men, including her four victims — came at a time when elderly people have become more and more interested in finding partners amid a rapidly aging population and the spread of nuclear families in the country.
Kakehi was given the death sentence by the Kyoto District Court on Tuesday for the murders of her 75-year-old husband Isao and common-law partners Masanori Honda, 71, and Minoru Hioki, 75, as well as for the attempted murder of her acquaintance Toshiaki Suehiro, 79, by having them drink cyanide between 2007 and 2013.
Kakehi had registered with a matchmaking service in the hope of meeting wealthy men with an annual income of more than ¥10 million ($87,900). She married or was associated with more than 10 men and inherited about ¥1 billion, though she eventually fell into debt.
But there is a view that Kakehi’s case may not deter elderly people from falling prey to similar schemes, apparently due to an anticipated rise in elderly people living alone and no conclusive measures to prevent a repeat of such incidents.
“I will stay with you for the rest of my life,” Kakehi wrote in an email to her husband, which was read during her trial. The email was sent to him before his death. It was apparent that immediately after meeting Kakehi through matchmaking, he was smitten by her charms and determined to marry her.
At a court hearing, a man in his 80s who said he dated Kakehi around the time of her husband’s death took the stand as a witness.
“My wife died, and living alone was tough, so I wanted to live together (with Kakehi),” the man recounted.
The two met through matchmaking, and in their fourth meeting, he entrusted her with his house key. He eventually broke up with her, at the warning of local police, who found the circumstances of her husband’s death suspicious.
Still, the man had good words to say about Kakehi, describing her as a “good woman.”
According to a survey by a major marriage-hunting service company, there has been a rise in the number of people of middle age or older who have remained unmarried through their lives but are looking for partners. Of that age group, many men aged 65 and older use websites and marriage consultation centers.
The company has also started a new service catering to middle-aged and elderly people in recent years.
Novelist Hiroyuki Kurokawa, who wrote a book in 2014 about a woman who was angling for inheritance by repeatedly marrying and dating elderly men, said, “At marriage consultation centers, elderly men are popular.”
Kurokawa, 68, discussed the psyche of elderly men, who have a short time left and assets to spare.
“A man, who lives on his own and far from his family, would want (someone) to be with him, even if he knew his partner is only out for his money,” said Kurokawa, a recipient of the renowned Naoki Prize for popular fiction.
While the case brought to light the tactics of a scheming wife and serves as a cautionary tale, Kurokawa warned that there is no “preventive measure” to ensure that a similar incident does not occur.
“Elderly people living alone will increase due to a longer average life span. Those becoming second wives are also on the rise,” he said.
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KYOTO – A serial killer dubbed the “black widow” was handed a death sentence Tuesday over the murders of her husband and two common-law partners, as well as the attempted murder of an acquaintance, between 2007 and 2013.
The ruling by the Kyoto District Court came despite a not guilty plea by the defense counsel of Chisako Kakehi, 70, citing a lack of physical evidence. The defense had also argued that Kakehi could not be held responsible as she had developed symptoms of early-onset dementia at the time of the murders.
“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 said in the ruling.
According to the ruling, Kakehi murdered her 75-year-old husband, Isao, common-law partners Masanori Honda, 71, and Minoru Hioki, 75, and tried to kill acquaintance Toshiaki Suehiro, 79, by having them drink cyanide.
Nakagawa said Kakehi “made light of human lives” as she repeatedly committed the killings, adding that she offered “almost no words of apology” and had not reflected on her crimes.
The court underlined that Kakehi did not suffer dementia when she committed the last crime in December 2013.
Prosecutors had maintained that in all four cases, the victims were tricked into drinking cyanide given to them by a debt-ridden Kakehi, who had sought to inherit their assets.
Shortly after the ruling, Kakehi’s lawyers filed an appeal with a higher court, suggesting the high-profile trial could yet drag on.
Calling her actions “shrewd and despicable,” prosecutors had said Kakehi had planned the crimes in advance — including the preparation of notary documents — tricking the victims into drinking the cyanide by passing it off as a health cocktail.
Defense lawyers, however, argued that Kakehi could not be held responsible, saying her dementia had progressed and that she was unable to comprehend that she was defending herself at trial.
First diagnosed with mild dementia in 2016, Kakehi said she had trouble remembering events shortly after her arrest. The doctor who made the diagnosis, however, said Kekehi could be held legally responsible for any crimes committed during that time.
The defense also claimed that there was a possibility some of the victims had died from disease or by different drugs or poisons, noting that some of the victims had not undergone legal autopsies.
In the case’s first public hearing, Kakehi said she would leave everything to her lawyers, but her statements during proceedings lacked coherence, including a stunning confession that she had killed her husband in 2013.
Kakehi was first arrested in November 2014 and indicted the following month on a charge of killing her husband, who died at the couple’s home in Muko, Kyoto Prefecture, in December 2013, about a month after their marriage. She was later indicted in connection with the deaths of the two other men.
Kakehi first wed at the age of 24, launching a fabric-printing company in Osaka Prefecture with her first husband. But following his death in 1994, the business went bankrupt and her house was put up for auction, prompting her to ask neighbors for a loan.
She later registered with a matchmaking service, specifically asking to meet wealthy men with an annual income of more than ¥10 million ($87,900). She married or was associated with more than 10 men and inherited about ¥1 billion, though she eventually fell into debt following dabbles into the stock market and futures trading.
The trial was held under the nation’s lay judge system, which involves citizen judges. Having opened in June, it was the second-longest of its kind, with 135 days spent examining the case.
More than 500 people lined up in front of the courthouse to get a ticket to observe the hearing.