The court of public opinion moves much faster than the legal system — and Masumi Hayashi never stood a chance. In October 1998, the mother of four from Wakayama was arrested on suspicion of slipping arsenic into a pot of curry at a neighborhood festival, killing four people and sickening over 60 others.
The case sparked a media frenzy, which intensified after the Asahi Shimbun reported that the Hayashi family had been connected with arsenic poisonings in the past. Masumi’s husband, Kenji, was an insect exterminator who’d discovered that the toxins he used in his line of work could also come in handy for pulling off insurance scams.
However, Masumi’s fate was probably sealed the moment she turned a garden hose on the paparazzi outside her house while sporting an inscrutable grin. Images of the incident were replayed endlessly in the media, where she became known by the nickname “dokufu” (poisonous wife). By the time she was convicted and sentenced to death, few seemed to question her guilt –— never mind the lack of any direct evidence, clear motive or confession.
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