Wakayama, Dec 10, 2025 (News On Japan) - The appeal trial of Sudo, the former wife accused of killing the wealthy businessman known as the Kishu Don Juan, began on December 8th and concluded on the same day after prosecutors sought to overturn the lower court’s acquittal but all requested witness examinations and newly submitted evidence were rejected.
Sudo, 29, is accused of causing the death of her former husband, Nozaki, then 77, at their home in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture seven years ago by making him ingest, through unspecified means, an amount of stimulant drugs that exceeded a lethal dose.
However, no direct evidence has been found that links Sudo to the alleged act, and the Wakayama District Court ruled last year that the possibility Nozaki accidentally ingested a fatal amount of stimulants could not be dismissed, delivering a not-guilty verdict that prosecutors subsequently appealed.
During the December 8th appeal hearing, prosecutors argued that the original ruling contained a serious misjudgment of facts, stating that it was “inconceivable” for Nozaki to have mistakenly consumed 1.8 grams of stimulant drugs and that the lower court’s acceptance of such a scenario made the acquittal impossible to uphold.
The defense countered that “the message from the citizens who concluded that this level of proof should not lead to a guilty verdict must not be ignored.”
All witness examinations sought by prosecutors and all newly submitted evidence were rejected, and the trial concluded immediately.
A ruling is scheduled to be handed down on March 23rd next year.
