The husband of a woman accused of the 1998 curry-poisoning murders in Wakayama testified Wednesday that there was no arsenic kept at their home that could have been used to kill people.
Kenji Hayashi, 56, who is serving a six-year prison term for fraud, appeared as a defense witness at the trial of Masumi Hayashi, 39, at the Wakayama District Court and said he did not take any arsenic back to their residence in the Sonobe district of Wakayama.
He said that after he quit his business as a termite exterminator in 1992 he gave his stock of arsenic to his wife's brother. He also said it was unlikely that his wife or any other person brought arsenic to the house, countering prosecution claims that Masumi Hayashi killed four people with curry mixed with arsenic from the house.
Asked about arsenic that was detected in a milk can in the garage of their former house in Wakayama, Kenji Hayashi told the court he did not know it was there but said management of the house was sloppy and the garage was not locked.