is a Japanese woman convicted of putting

poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

in a pot of

curry A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradit ...

being served at a 1998

summer festival Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

in the Sonobe district of

Wakayama, Wakayama Wakayama City Hall is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 households and a population density of 1700 persons per km². The total area of the city is ...

, Japan.

Crime

A communal pot of curry being served to residents of Sonobe district, Wakayama, was poisoned with at least 1,000 grams of

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...

— enough to kill over 100 people — on July 25, 1998. Two children and two adults died after consuming the curry, and 63 others suffered from acute arsenic poisoning. Killed in the incident were 64-year-old Takatoshi Taninaka and 53-year-old Takaaki Tanaka (council president and vice president of Wakayama, respectively), 10-year-old Hirotaka Hayashi, and 16-year-old Miyuki Torii. Attention quickly focused on 37-year-old mother of four Masumi Hayashi, as a witness had seen her at the curry pot, and she had easy access to arsenic because her husband was an insect exterminator. Prior to the murders, Hayashi had been an insurance saleswoman. After her arrest, she and her husband were indicted on a number of insurance fraud charges as well. Hayashi was also tried for three other attempted murders by poison that had occurred during the previous 10 years, with the motive in those cases being life-insurance benefits. She is believed to have tried to kill her husband at least once. Her motive for poisoning the curry has been said to be anger at her neighbours for shunning her family. The arsenic found in the curry was identical to the arsenic she had in her own home from her husband's extermination business.

Trial

At her trial she pleaded innocent, but Wakayama District Court sentenced her to death in 2002. On June 28, 2005, Osaka High Court upheld her death sentence. However, her lawyers (

Yoshihiro Yasuda Yoshihiro Yasuda (安田好弘 ''Yasuda Yoshihiro'', born December 4, 1947) is a famed and controversial lawyer in Japan who is known for his anti-death penalty activism. With the death penalty being a prominent method of prosecution in the Japa ...

among them) insisted on her innocence because only circumstantial evidence existed. On April 21, 2009, the

Supreme Court of Japan The , located in Hayabusachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the Supreme court, highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Constitution of Japan, Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law. It ...

rejected her final appeal. In July 2009, Hayashi formally petitioned for a retrial. Wakayama District Court rejected her petition in March 2017. Hayashi appealed to Osaka High Court by April 2017, but the request was rejected. A third petition for retrial was filed in June 2021.

Impact

Hayashi's case gained public attention. The crime inspired a wave of copycat poisonings. On June 9, 2021, Masumi's 37-year-old daughter jumped off a bridge at Kansai Airport, killing herself and her 4-year-old daughter. Her 16-year-old daughter was found bludgeoned to death earlier the same day.

References

External links

''New York Times'' story about her convictionPoisonous Year for Japan
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Japan poison arrests
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Stampede at curry poison trial
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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayashi, Masumi 1961 births Mass murder in 1998 1998 in Japan Japanese mass murderers Japanese murderers of children Japanese fraudsters Living people People from Wakayama Prefecture Poisoners Japanese female murderers Japanese prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Japan Japanese people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Japan Mass murder in Japan