Japan | Chisako Kakehi, sentenced to death for cyanide murders, dies in custody

Chisako Kakehi, a woman sentenced to death for the murders of three elderly men using cyanide compounds, has died, local media reported Thursday.

The 78-year-old death row inmate was convicted of murdering the men — with the intent of inheriting their assets — in Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyogo prefectures between 2012 and 2013.

Among the victims was her 75-year-old husband, Isao. The other two were men with whom she had entered common-law relationships.

In 2007, Kakehi also attempted to kill another male acquaintance to avoid repaying a debt.

She was held at the Osaka Detention Center as a death row inmate in the years before her death.

In 2022, Kakehi filed a request for a retrial at the Kyoto District Court in relation to the death of one of her common-law spouses, a 75-year-old man from the city of Itami, Hyogo Prefecture.

Her defense team argued that the man's death was due to an illness and submitted a medical expert's findings as new evidence.

However, the Kyoto court in March this year rejected the application, according to the NHK.

Source: japantimes.co.jp, Staff, December 26, 2024

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