Three women, all practicing or former nurses, admitted to murdering two of their husbands during their first trial hearing at the Fukuoka District Court on Tuesday.
On trial are nurse Kazuko Ikegami, 41; former nurses Junko Yoshida, 43, and Hitomi Ishii, 44; and 42-year-old medical experiment coordinator Miyuki Tsutsumi. All are Fukuoka Prefecture residents.
Tsutsumi did not enter a plea during Tuesday's session, saying she needed time to gather her thoughts. But the other three women admitted to killing Ishii's husband, Tsuyoshi Kumon, in March 1999 and Ikegami's husband, Eiji Hirata, in January 1998.
Prosecutors allege the four conspired to kill the men for insurance money. Kumon, 44, died from alcohol poisoning after a medical tube was inserted in his nose and whiskey was poured into it. Hirata, 39, died after having air injected into his bloodstream, they said. Both men had been given food or beverages laced with sleeping drugs, they added.