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Life sentence sought for widow in murder of Japanese “Don Juan”
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Life sentence sought for widow in murder of Japanese “Don Juan”

This photo shows the courtroom of the Wakayama District Court, where the Saki Sudo trial was held on November 18, 2024. (Pool photo)(Kyodo)

WAKAYAMA (Kyodo) — Prosecutors Monday sought a life sentence in prison for a 28-year-old woman accused of killing her wealthy husband, who described himself as the “Don Juan” of the Western Japan region where he lived.

According to the indictment, Saki Sudo is accused of causing 77-year-old Kosuke Nozaki to take a lethal amount of illegal stimulant drugs on May 24, 2018, just a few months after they were married.

At the hearing in Wakayama District Court, prosecutors claimed that Sudo was the only person who was with Nozaki when he took the drugs. They said Nozaki was at risk of divorce after she learned he appeared in adult videos and wanted to kill him while he was still married so she could inherit his fortune.

The defense, which wanted Sudo’s acquittal, said there was not enough evidence to prove his guilt.

They said Sudo had no online search history of discovering lethal amounts of stimulant drugs or specific methods for ingesting them.

Sudo said Nozaki asked him to buy drugs for 200,000 yen, and the defense said his claim was credible considering bank records showed he deposited the same amount into his account.

“I want the court to decide after closely examining the evidence,” Sudo said in his closing statement.

The court is scheduled to announce its decision on December 12.

Nozaki, the head of a liquor sales company and real estate business in Wakayama prefecture, is said to have a personal fortune of about 1.3 billion yen ($8.4 million). Sudo married Nozaki, who is 50 years her senior, in February 2018.

Nozaki rose to fame in 2016 when he published his autobiography titled “Don Juan of Kishu: The Man Who Gave 3 Billion Yen to 4,000 Beautiful Women,” comparing himself to the legendary Spanish playboy. Kishu is the historical name of the region in the prefecture where he lives.