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Featured Image Credit: NHK World Japan
Topics: Crime, Japan, Money, Sex and Relationships, World News
Liv Bridge
Topics: Crime, Japan, Money, Sex and Relationships, World News
A court has heard how a young woman had a very suspicious search history before her millionaire husband dropped dead - but it wasn't enough to convict her of his murder.
Kosuke Nozaki, a self-made Japanese 'Don Juan of Kishu' who wrote an autobiography about his dating conquests, was found dead by a drug overdose at his home in the town of Tanabe back in May, 2018.
His death came just months after he tied the knot with Saki Sudo, a 28-year-old model who admitted in court she had married the wealthy businessman for his fortune.
The 77-year-old started his lucrative career as a condom salesman before racking up a fortune of 1.3 billion yen (around $8.5 million) in various pursuits such as alcohol and property.
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For the past six and a half years, his ex-wife has been accused of his murder as prosecutors tried to convince the court she had administered the fatal dose in order to inherit his fortune.
Sudo faced life imprisonment if convicted, but protested her innocence throughout the trial.
She did not deny that she had bought the drugs, but insisted she bought them at her husband's request.
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She was also the only person present at the time of his death and the court heard Sudo searched for terms such as 'elderly death' and 'perfect crime' online.
However, she successfully argued she had made the searches out of curiosity and her husband could have overdosed by his own hand, whether accidentally or intentionally.
As a result, she was released by the Wakayama District Court on Thursday as judges determined the circumstantial evidence was not strong enough to prove she had deliberately murdered the man.
The pair tied the knot just a few months after meeting in February 2018 after Nozaki offered Sudo one million yen to marry him - which increased to one million yen per month.
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Sudo said during the trial: "I thought I was lucky to have met someone who gives me money so I should be on good terms with him" and that she used the money to live a 'carefree life'.
The widow added: "I would have hoped he died in a different way."
Nozaki served Sudo with divorce papers in March that year - just two months before his death.
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Nozaki's autobiography, published in 2016 and subtitled The Man Who Gave 3 Billion Yen to 4,000 Beautiful Women, describes his erotic lifestyle and womanising ways in detail.
He wrote: "Man easily age when they don’t have something to live for. My goal in life is to have sex with beautiful women. It will never change … and there is no retirement age.”
After his marriage to Sudo, he published a sequel where he penned: "People ask me, ‘Can you really do it?’, and I reply, ‘Oh yes — three times a day on average'.
"I have never used Viagra, but am always vigorous. There is a risk that I might die during intercourse, but to go to heaven like that is just what I want.”