The 28-year-old widow of a wealthy elderly businessman in Wakayama Prefecture, dubbed the “Don Juan of Kishu,” was found not guilty Thursday of murdering her husband by drug overdose in a dramatic marriage-for-money case.
The Wakayama District Court ruled that there was reasonable doubt that Saki Sudo, who admitted she married the 77-year-old Kosuke Nozaki for money but denied murdering him, killed him in May 2018 to obtain his inheritance. He had about ¥1.3 billion in assets.
With prosecutors only presenting circumstantial evidence, the key to the trial was whether Nozaki was deliberately killed, and if so, whether Sudo was the perpetrator. Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment for Sudo.
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