The Supreme Court on Tuesday finalized Masumi Hayashi's death sentence for killing four people with arsenic-laced curry at a 1998 summer festival in the city of Wakayama, rejecting her not-guilty plea and ending an almost decade-long trial.
Hayashi, 47, a former insurance saleswoman, was convicted at the district court level of killing the four and sickening 63 others who ate the poisoned curry, although there was no direct evidence to prove her involvement and no clear motive. Her sentence was upheld in a high court appeal. She was also convicted of trying to kill an acquaintance for insurance, as well as her husband, Kenji, 63, a pest exterminator, to collect on policies she had taken out on them.
In a statement released through her lawyers after the decision, Hayashi said: "There is a true culprit somewhere. I'm determined to clear myself of this false conviction."