Death row condemned “Black Widow” Chisako Kakehi has died

Before direction

She killed her lovers: “Black Jokes” dies in custody

A Japanese woman killed her husband and two other men. Then she grabbed money from life insurance. Now the “poison lady” has died in prison.

She was called the “Black Widow” and “Poison Lady” by the media: Chisako Kakehi, who was sentenced to death for the murder of several lovers, has died at the age of 78 in a prison in Osaka, Japan. Her death was confirmed at a hospital on Boxing Day after she was found lying lifeless in her cell. A representative of the Ministry of Justice announced this on Friday.

The exact cause of death has not yet been determined. However, Japanese media reported an unspecified illness. Kakehi’s conviction caused a stir about ten years ago because of her crimes.

She killed the first man in 2007. She committed one murder in 2012 and two more in 2013, as CNN reported. Then in August 2014, investigators found crucial evidence: In the apartment of her murdered husband, they discovered a plastic bag with traces of cyanide buried in a discarded flower pot. Kakehi also used the highly toxic substance in other murders.

Her arrest in 2014 was followed by one of the longest trials in Japanese history. In 2017, she was sentenced to death for the murder of three men, including her husband, and the attempted murder of another man. An appeal to Japan’s highest court in 2021 upheld the verdict. Nevertheless, Kakehi tried to challenge one of the murders. This process has not yet been completed. Accordingly, their direction was not timed.

The Japanese woman had developed numerous relationships with older or sick men, many of them through dating agencies. She specifically looked for wealthy and childless men. Before the murders, they had the men’s life insurance policies signed over to them. She is said to have stolen the equivalent of 8.6 million euros over a period of ten years.