WAKAYAMA (TR) – A much-anticipated lay judge trial continued at the Wakayama District Court last week, six years after the murder of a wealthy 77-year-old man known as “Don Juan of Kishu.”
During the session on November 8, 28-year-old defendant Saki Sudo entered the courtroom wearing a black sleeveless dress, reports Nippon News Network (Nov. 8).
She stands accused of murdering her much-older husband, Kosuke Nozaki, in 2018 by giving him excessive amounts of kakuseizai, or methamphetamine, at his residence in Tanabe City.
During the previous hearing, Sudo asserted her innocence. “I did not kill [Nozaki], and I did not give him stimulants,” she said. “I am innocent.”
She reaffirmed that claim during the session last week, saying that Nozaki in fact requested that she purchase illegal drugs for him prior to his death.
But that was hardly the only eye-opening claim by Sudo during the question-and-answer session, which covered the terms of her marriage, love and the aforementioned drugs.
“Don Juan of Kishu”
Nozaki called himself “Don Juan of Kishu.” In several books penned by Nozaki, he claimed to have slept with 4,000 women and provided them a total of 3 billion yen in remuneration. Prior to his death, he ran several businesses. His estate is valued at 1.3 billion yen.
In its opening statement, the prosecution argued, “The defendant married Nozaki for his fortune, and killed him in order to obtain a huge inheritance through the perfect crime.”
Prior to the incident, Saki had searched for terms such as “perfect crime,” “death of an elderly person” and “stimulant overdose.” She also searched for “text of a will if you want to leave all your assets to your wife.”
She later ordered more than 3 grams of stimulants — more than three times the lethal dose — from an illegal drug trafficking website.
“It wasn’t like a normal marriage where you love each other”
The relationship between Sudo and Nozaki began in December 2017. Shortly thereafter he called her on the telephone. “Amore, marry me,” he said. She responded, “Yes, thank you.”
According to Sudo, they were married two months later under a contract whereby he paid her 1 million yen per month.
After the defense attorney asked if she told her family and friends about her marriage, she said, “I didn’t. It was contract for like a 1 million yen per month, and it wasn’t like a normal marriage where you love each other, so it wasn’t something to spread around.”
After the nuptials, Nozaki tried to pressure her into a sexual relationship, but she refused. She then went on a trip to France alone in March 2018 with Nozaki covering the expenses.
“Can you buy me some stimulants?”
And about a month and a half before the incident, Nozaki is said to have proposed this to Sudo: “If you get your driver’s license, I’ll give you money, so why don’t you live with me in the meantime?” Sudo agreed.
It was their first time living together since getting married. This is where Sudo’s testimony about stimulants comes in. Nozaki says that after dinner, he would sometimes ask to sleep next to her. Then one day…
Sudo told the court, “Nozaki asked me, ‘I can’t take it anymore, can you buy me some stimulants?’ I said, ‘I’ll do it if you give me money,’ and he gave me 200,000 yen.”
She thought he was joking, she told the court. She said, “[He] asked me, ‘What happened?’ I thought, ‘What? Are you serious?’ So, I looked up ‘drug underground bulletin board.'”
Sudo then said that she called the number on the bulletin board and bought stimulants directly from a dealer. She then gave them to Nozaki.
“He said, ‘Oh, thank you,'” Sudo told the court. But the next day…
Sudo said, “He said, ‘That’s no good. It’s fake. I’m not relying on you anymore.'”
In the testimony, she made it seem as if Nozaki was a habitual user of stimulants. However, there is no evidence that Nozaki used stimulants on a daily basis.
Nozaki’s beloved dog died
They lived together for just under a month. After finishing driving school, Sudo decided to return to her hometown in Hokkaido. Then, a few days later…
She said, “I got a call saying, ‘Please come back to Tanabe [my home]'”
As a result, Sudo went to Nozaki’s home again. This was about 20 days before the incident.
Shortly after that, Nozaki’s beloved dog died. Sudo testified that Nozaki’s behavior started to become strange around this time.
Sudo said, “He said, ‘I want to die after my dog died.’ He was acting strangely on the day [he] died and the day before.”
Questioning of the defendant will continue next week, and the verdict is scheduled to be handed down on December 12.
