'Black Widow' Makes Stunning Claim in Murder Trial

'I killed my husband,' Chisako Kakehi tells court
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 12, 2017 10:36 AM CDT
'Black Widow' Makes Stunning Claim in Murder Trial
Chisako Kakehi, center, in Sakai, Japan, in 2014.   (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File)

When Chisako Kakehi took the stand during her murder trial Monday, she vowed to remain silent. But that's not what happened. In what the New York Times calls a "cinematic turn," the so-called black widow of Japan admitted to killing her fourth husband, one of at least six men to have died while in a relationship with Kakehi. "I killed my husband" because "I wasn't given any money after I married him," Kakehi, 70, announced, per the Japan Times. "I have no intention of hiding the guilt. I will laugh it off and die if I am sentenced to death tomorrow." She added she poisoned Isao Kakehi, 75, with cyanide she'd received from a supplier while operating a T-shirt printing business, hoping she'd receive her husband's money after his death.

Authorities quickly focused on Chisako Kakehi after traces of cyanide were found in her husband's body just a month after the couple had married in 2013. She's now on trial for his murder, as well as for the murders of two boyfriends and the attempted murder and robbery of another, who later died of cancer, reports the BBC. Prosecutors say Kakehi inherited millions of dollars as a result of the crimes between 2007 and 2013. Despite her confession Monday, Kakehi's defense attorneys don't appear to be giving up. She has mild dementia and "barely remembers things that happened recently, let alone the incidents," they remarked at the start of the trial last month. It's expected to run until November, with more than 50 witnesses testifying. (Read about Kakehi's other alleged victims here.)

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