Japan? The trend seems to be growing. But the police don’t keep very close track.
On November 19, the Kyoto Police arrested a wealthy 67-year-old widow on suspicion of poisoning her 75-year-old husband with cyanide—and investigators suspect she may have murdered five other former partners. Thursday morning, while raiding her second home, the police discovered empty medicine capsules they believe she may have used in the alleged crime.
In other countries, black widow murders are a sensation. In Japan they’re becoming something of a tradition. The woman under investigation now is the latest in a line of what are called dokufu, poison ladies, who have a penchant for snuffing their partners to collect insurance money and inheritances.
In this case the alleged killer is named Chisake Kakehi. She has been under investigation since last year when her fourth husband, Isao Kakehi, became ill at home and then was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on December 28. They had been married for less than two months.
An autopsy found highly toxic cyanide levels in the blood of the not-so-dearly departed. But there was no rush to judgment. The police investigation has spanned nearly 11 months, and along the way investigators discovered that, dating back to 1994, many of the men in the widow Kakehi's life have passed away under suspicious circumstances: her first husband died at age 54; four other men who married her or had become well acquainted with her have died since.
In September of last year, her 75-year-old boyfriend suddenly became ill after the couple ate together at a restaurant, and he subsequently died. The next month she married the man who, it is safe to presume, was her final husband.
The Kyoto Police, now working jointly with the Osaka Police, also found traces of cyanide in the preserved blood samples of a 71-year-old man in Osaka Prefecture, who died in March 2012. Police allege the man was in a close relationship with Kakehi and they are investigating the details of his passing.
The cops say Kakehi gained several hundred million yen in inheritance from the deaths over the years.
Kakehi has been interviewed several times by the Japanese media since the police began the investigation last December. She has denied all charges saying, "How would I even get hold of cyanide? I have no idea."
continued at Daily Beast
