Model, 28, cleared of murdering husband, 77, after Googling ‘perfect crime’
Millionaire author Kosuke Nozaki died of a drug overdose at his Japanese home in 2018
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
A young Japanese model who Googled “perfect crime” before her wealthy elderly husband died of a mysterious drug overdose has been found not guilty of his murder.
Saki Sudo, 28, was acquitted after prosecutors accused her in the Wakayama District Court of killing her 77-year-old author husband Kosuke Nozaki in May 2018.
Mr Nozaki, who boasted of spending millions pursuing his “boundless desire to have sex with beautiful women” in a best-selling memoir, was found dead at his home just three months after marrying Ms Sudo.
Ms Sudo always maintained her innocence after prosecutors alleged she drugged Mr Nozaki to inherit his £8.6million fortune.
She admitted that she had bought drugs but said that it was at her husband’s request and that he could have administered the fatal dose himself, by accident or design.
According to The Japan Times, prosecutors ran a circumstantial case in which they argued various internet search terms linked her to their allegations.
Ms Sudo argued her internet searches of “elderly death” and “perfect crime” were conducted out of curiosity and did not amount to proof she was a murderer, The Times reported.
Mr Nozaki began his career as a condom salesman and went on to make his fortune in property, alcohol, and money-lending.
In a widely-sold biography,The Don Juan of Kishu, Mr Nozaki wrote about his various sexual encounters. “My goal in life is to have sex with beautiful women. It will never change … and there is no retirement age,” he said of his exploits, eventually publishing a sequel about his marriage to Ms Sudo.