Chisako Kakehi, known as Japan's "Black Widow," died at 78 in custody after being sentenced to death for murdering three elderly lovers with cyanide. Her calculated crimes shocked Japan and exposed gaps in investigating suspicious deaths.

Japanese death-row inmate Chisako Kakehi, dubbed the "Black Widow" after she used cyanide to kill her elderly lovers​, has died in a detention center at age 78, officials say,

Chisako Kakehi was found guilty of killing three elderly lovers by poisoning them with cyanide, and attempting to murder another man. She had been on death row since 2017.