A 70-year-old Japanese woman nicknamed the "black widow" was sentenced to death on Tuesday for killing her husband and two others and attempting to murder a fourth between 2007 and 2013, local media reported.
The Kyoto District Court sentenced Chisako Kakehi to death. Her defence team had pleaded she was not guilty, due to a lack of physical evidence, and had argued she could not be held responsible because of her dementia, the Kyodo News agency reported.
"In all four cases, the accused made the victims drink cyanide with intent to kill," Judge Ayako Nakagawa told the court, broadcaster NHK reported.
Kakehi was arrested in November 2014 on suspicion of having killed her husband Isao with cyanide.
When her trial began in June, Kakehi refused to speak, but later she admitted to killing Isao in December 2013, a month after their marriage.
Kakehi said Isao had not treated her as well financially as he had another woman he had dated.
"I wasn't given any money after I married him," she told the court in July, according to 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."
The Japanese press have nicknamed Kakehi a "black widow," or venomous spider.
Kakehi married or dated more than 10 men and inherited about 1bn yen ($8.8mn) as she was looking for wealthy men through dating agencies. But she ended up falling into debt following her attempts to speculate in stocks and futures trading.
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