Convicted serial killer Kanae Kijima pulled off what Charles Manson could not: She got married while in prison.
According to Josei Jishin (April 7), Kijima, 40, who is currently incarcerated in Saitama Prefecture and awaiting a second appeal on three counts of murder, married a Tokyo real estate businessman in his 60s earlier this month.
The romance started in 2013 via a letter from the man, whose name is not provided. The pair subsequently corresponded on approximately 10 occasions. In a letter dated November 11, 2014, Kijima asked the man if he would be her lover. Two days later, he wrote, “OK!!”
Kijima subsequently suggested tying the knot. “Since getting married would be a great feeling, let’s do it soon,” she wrote. “You will be my husband and I’ll be your wife!” Last month, paperwork was submitted. The marriage was officially recognized on March 2.
Kijima has had a troubled history with men. Prior to her conviction, she met multiple men through matchmaking sites and quickly engaged in relationships with them not long before they died under suspicious circumstances.
In 2012, the Saitama District Court convicted Kijima of killing three men three years before. She was sentenced to death.
The body of 41-year-old Yoshiyuki OideOide, a company employee from Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, was discovered inside a rented car in Fujimi, Saitama on August 6, 2009. Investigators later determined that he had been defrauded by Kijima for roughly five million yen.
An autopsy revealed that he had died of carbon-monoxide poisoning and that his body contained the remains of sleeping pills. Police also found a charcoal burner inside the vehicle. Kijima was seen with him the day before his corpse was located.
The ruling handed down in the lay judge trial found Kijima to be guilty on ten counts, with fraud and theft also included. Last year, the Tokyo High Court upheld the ruling.
In December of 2013, Kijima established a blog. Over the course of her updates, she gathered a following of male supporters.
Source: “Kijima kanae hikoku gokuchūu kekkon shite ita! Otto ni ‘shu 1 menkai’ wo nedari mo,” Josei Jishin (April 7)