Roundup: Japan's "Black Widow" serial killer admits further murders as grisly case unfolds

A suspected serial killer in Japan dubbed the "Black Widow" after being accused of murdering her husband and suspected of killing multiple others to inherit their fortunes, was indicted on Wednesday and told prosecutors she had killed a number of other men.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Chisako Kakehi, 68, for the murder of her partner Masanori Honda, 71, in March 2012. Prosecutors believe that along with the other potential victims she duped Masanori Honda into drinking cyanide that she procured from a dyeing factory she used to work at.

"I had him (Honda) drink cyanide contained in a capsule," Kakehi told investigators. She stands charged of poisoning Honda with a lethal dose of cyanide when they were drinking coffee together at a shop in Kaizuka in Osaka Prefecture.

Along with murdering Honda, the accused also confessed to killing an elderly man in Hyogo Prefecture and a number of other male partners, including her husband Isao Kakehi, 75.

Investigators are currently trying to determine whether her confessions are credible, according to local news reports, as the story which has gripped the nation continues to unfold, with as many as 10 men known to have been associated with Kakehi having already wound up dead, and the accused netting around 1 billion yen (8.4 million U.S. dollars) in inheritance.

Kakehi was first arrested in November last year in Kyoto Prefecture and indicted a month later on suspicion of murdering her husband, Isao, with cyanide a year earlier. The couple had been married for just one month, when Isao was fatally poisoned.

According to media reports, Kakehi allegedly received around 1 billion yen in insurance and other payouts from assets over ten years, following the deaths of four of her late partners, including Isao, and a host of other lovers.

The woman had used the inheritance to buy risky stocks and also invested in dodgy real estate, the reports said, adding that she funneled the money through as many as ten different bank accounts using false names.

Kakehi, a former bank employee herself, allegedly approached " numerous men" and had been "involved" with more than 10 of them over the past ten years, as many as 10 of whom have been confirmed dead.

She lost most of her acquired wealth on ill-advised investments on futures markets, sources close to the matter have said, and she now has debts to the tune of 10 million yen, they added.

Her alleged victims were found through marriage agencies, where the now four-time widow would specify she was looking for men owning land or property, who had no children and were elderly and living alone.

According to one media report, the "Black Widow" had also stated that she preferred her potential husbands to be in "poor health."

Police who raided her house last year recovered traces of cyanide hidden in a trash bag and medical reports confirmed that Isao suddenly fell sick at home and was confirmed dead in hospital shortly after, with a subsequent autopsy revealing massive amounts of cyanide compounds in his blood.

The autopsy on Isao was carried out following the collapse and death of a subsequent boyfriend of Kakehi's, a 75-year old who became violently ill following the couple dining out together in a restaurant.

Kakehi initially denied murdering Isao and rejected claims she was responsible for the death of her first husband in 1994, and her second husband in 2006. Her third marriage also ended with the death of her 75-year old partner in 2006.

Kakehi has been quoted as saying that her husbands giving her legal documents guaranteeing her their inheritance if they passed showed "the minimum, necessary way of expressing their sincerity."

Cyanide has sometimes been the "weapon of choice" in murders because the poison can be used surreptitiously and is extremely potent and extremely fast-acting.

Also, in cases involving the elderly or infirm, medical examiners would, in most cases, conclude that the person died of a cardiac event, such as a heart attack, rather than suspect foul play, and would not see the need to perform in-depth toxicology tests or blood analysis, said medical experts with knowledge of the matter. Endi