FULL TEXT: FUKUOKA – A 49-year-old woman pleaded guilty here
Monday to killing her former husband in 1994 and second husband in 2000 with
the help of her boyfriend.
Yuko Takahashi, a former bar owner in the Nakasu
entertainment district of Fukuoka, also admitted to the Fukuoka District Court
that she extorted 3.86 million yen from a customer whom she was dating.
In the opening session of her trial, Takahashi defied her
lawyer’s advice and pleaded guilty. Takahashi’s admission came just after her
lawyer had told the court that she would not be entering a plea.
“I have confessed to all the crimes, and I want to be
tried,” Takahashi told the court. “I have spoken honestly to police. I want to
atone for my sins, even though that might mean I will be executed.”
Kenichi Ide, 33, a company employee from Kobe, is accused of
colluding with Takahashi in the murders. He refused to enter a plea after
prosecutors rejected his lawyer’s request to present details of Ide’s role in
the crimes during the day’s court session.
Takahashi allegedly fatally stabbed her ex-husband, Yuji
Nomoto, 34, with a knife at her house in Shime, Fukuoka Prefecture, in October
1994.
Ide, who at that time was dating Takahashi and tutoring her
child, is accused of conspiring with her in the murder. Takahashi apparently
obtained 200 million yen in life insurance benefits from Nomoto’s death.
In November 2000, Takahashi allegedly drowned her second
husband, Takayuki, 54, in a bathtub at their house in Fukuoka. His death
apparently earned her 27 million yen in life insurance benefits.
Police initially concluded that Nomoto had stabbed himself
to death, and decided that Takayuki Takahashi drowned accidentally.
Takahashi was a well-known bar owner in Nakasu, the most
expensive entertainment district in Kyushu.
[“Woman, 49, admits part in killing husbands,” The Japan
Times, Dec 14, 2004]
***
FULL TEXT: Fukuoka — The Fukuoka District Court sentenced a
former bar owner to life imprisonment Thursday as sought by prosecutors for
killing her husband in 1994 and then her next spouse in 2000. Yuko Takahashi,
51, was found guilty of stabbing her first husband Yuji Nomoto, 34, to death,
with the help of her boyfriend, at their home in the town of Shime, Fukuoka
Prefecture, in October 1994.
She was also convicted of drowning her next husband Takayuki
Takahashi, then 54, without an accomplice in the bath of their home in the city
of Fukuoka in November 2000. Takahashi's boyfriend Kenichi Ide, 36, a former
home tutor, was sentenced to imprisonment of three years and six months.
Prosecutors had demanded imprisonment of 12 years.
[“Ex-bar owner given life term for killing 2 husbands,” Kyodo
News, Jul. 19, 2007]
***
FULL TEXT: FUKUOKA -- The acquittal of a man who was accused
of assisting with the murder of an ex-husband of a former bar owner was
confirmed after prosecutors did not appeal a not-guilty ruling by the deadline.
Kenichi Ide, 37, a former home tutor from Saza, Nagasaki Prefecture, was
acquitted of assisting with the murder of a former husband of Yuko Takahashi,
52, a former owner of a bar in the Nakasu district of Fukuoka. Ide had been
indicted on charges of conspiring with Takahashi to fatally stab Takahashi's
second husband at the victim's home in October 1994, but he had pleaded not
guilty. The Fukuoka District Court convicted Ide of assisting with the murder
of Takahashi's former husband, but the Fukuoka High Court overturned the lower
court ruling and acquitted Ide on April 22 this year.
The acquittal was confirmed after prosecutors did not appeal
the high court ruling by Wednesday -- the deadline for an appeal. "I just
want them to leave me alone," Ide said in a comment released through his
lawyer after the high court ruling. Ide used to serve as a home tutor for the
eldest son of Takahashi between 1993 and 1994 while he was a graduate student
at Kyushu University. Takahashi has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the
Fukuoka District Court for killing her two former husbands in a bid to collect
life insurance benefits. She has appealed the sentence.
[“Acquittal of man for helping woman murder ex-husband
confirmed,” (Japan Today?), May 8, 2008;
Japan Innocence & Death Penalty Information Center]
***
Takahashi Yuko (Female) = 高橋優子
***
For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.
***
[124-1/3/2021]
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