The Kyoto Prefecture woman whom the media has dubbed "the black widow" has admitted to murdering her most recent husband, sources close to the investigation said Friday.
Chisako Kakehi, 68, whose six partners since 2006 have all died, was charged Wednesday with murdering 75-year-old Isao Kakehi last Dec. 28 by giving him a fatal dose of cyanide in their home in the city of Muko.
Chisako Kakehi had adamantly denied the allegations after she was arrested Nov. 19, but the sources said several days before she was indicted Wednesday she told investigators "I did it" and began to explain the circumstances of Isao Kakehi's death.
Since 2006, she had married or was in a common-law marriage with six men, and inherited a total of around ¥1 billion after their deaths, according to the investigation so far.
Police in neighboring Osaka Prefecture are investigating the death of another of the men, who was from the city of Kaizuka and who died in March 2012 at age 71. Cyanide compounds were later detected in samples of his blood.