Women account for one out of six serial killers, and although that means the chances of a woman being a serial killer are rare, they are never zero. And if you think age has something to do with it, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Just take a look at the case of Chisako Kakehi, a Japanese widow who murdered (or attempted to murder) her many husbands for money.
Kakehi was married for 25 years when her first husband died. Nearly a decade later, she began “looking for love” online when she connected with Toshiaki Suehiro, 78, in 2007. According to CNN, the pair were having lunch with his children when 15 minutes after the meal he collapsed unconscious in the street. He initially survived but suffered from “incurable higher dysfunction and visual impairment” as a result of the incident. He lived for a year more before dying due to illness. He reportedly took supplements, and that’s when Kakehi slipped him a cyanide pill.
Kakehi found her next victim in Masanoria Honda, 71, who reportedly told friends he planned to marry her. One day, however, he mysteriously went unconscious while riding a motorcycle after meeting Kakehi at the store.
Two months before Honda’s death, Kakehi had already begun dating her third victim, cancer survivor Minoru Hioki. The pair’s brief romance ended in another fatal dinner, where Kakehi slipped him a cyanide pill just like Suheriro, and Hioki fell unconscious just after he finished their meal, CNN reported. Kakehi lied to the hospital staff and informed them he was not in remission from his cancer and he had no children, and she refused permission for them to resuscitate him.
Just two months later, Kakehi found her fourth and last victim, Isao Kakehi. Within weeks of getting married, Isao had a cardiopulmonary arrest, once more after sharing a meal with Kakehi, and died four hours later at the hospital. His death is what aroused suspicion of Kakehi.
Kakehi likely got away with her crimes for so long because autopsies are not commonplace in Japan. Isao’s death was considered to be suspicious enough to warrant one, which revealed cyanide traces in his heart, blood, and stomach. Police found the cyanide mixed in with his health supplements at their apartment.
Two months later, authorities arrested Kakehi. Over several months, they wore her down enough to get her to confess to three of the poisonings, per CNN.
Kakehi faced trial in 2014, and she showed no remorse, according to the BBC. She targeted these men for their significant savings and older age, which is pretty ruthless if you ask me.
“I wasn’t given any money after I married him,” the Japan Times said Kakehi told the court ahead of sentencing at the time, per CNN. “I have no intention of hiding the guilt. I will laugh it off and die if I am sentenced to death tomorrow.”
Although she was sentenced to death after being found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder, Kakehi died while incarcerated when she was 78 years old, CBS News reported.
