A wealthy man in Tanabe City planned to divorce his 25-year-old wife prior to his murder three years ago, police have learned, reports NHK.
According to police, his wife, Saki Sudo, a resident of Tokyo is the lone suspect in the case.
She allegedly laced food and drink consumed by Kosuke Nozaki, 77, with a fatal dose of kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, on the night of May 24, 2018.
Police did not reveal whether she admits to the allegations.
On the night of the incident, Sudo found Nozaki not breathing on a sofa in a second-floor bedroom of their residence in Tanabe. He was later confirmed dead.
An autopsy revealed up to 1 gram of the chemical components of stimulant drugs were found in Nozaki’s stomach, police said.
Police also said that Sudo did research on her smartphone about purchasing stimulant drugs and how to kill a person before the incident.
Police believe she later used social media to make a purchase from a dealer. Police also learned that her smartphone was in the same location as that of the dealer in Tanabe, reports the Mainichi Shimbun (April 29).
Investigators found traces of stimulant drugs on the kitchen floor of the residence and inside the bag of a vacuum cleaner.
In February 2018, Nozaki married Sudo, who was 55 years his junior. After getting married, the suspect rarely appeared in Tanabe, instead living in her residence in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward.
In the latest development, police have revealed that Nozaki planned to divorce Sudo after growing dissatisfied with her refusal to stay in Tanabe.
According to witnesses, Nozaki asked Sudo to complete the divorce paperwork. They then got into a dispute, police said.
According to a former executive from Nozaki’s company, a condition for the marriage was that Nozaki would pay Sudo an allowance of 1 million yen per month.
Police believe that Sudo carried out the crime out of fear that her allowance would be cut off.
“She had no tears or anything,” the former executive said of Sudo after Nozaki’s death, according to TV Asahi (April 29).
On Wednesday morning, police entered Sudo’s residence and escorted her to Haneda Airport. After boarding a flight, she arrived at Nanki-Shirahama Airport in Wakayama at 8:45 a.m.
According to a previous report, Nozaki amassed tremendous wealth through work in the real estate, consumer lending and agriculture industries. His palatial residence in Tanabe is adorned with works of art.
Nozaki frequently boasted about relationships with women. In 2016, he penned “Don Juan of Wakayama: The Man Who Has Supported 4,000 Women with 3 Billion Yen.” Weekly magazines and television programs began to subsequently refer to him as “Don Juan.”
