Image caption Chisako Kakehi is said to be suffering from dementia 
 
 A 70-year-old Japanese woman has been sentenced to death for the murder of three men, one of whom was her husband, and the attempted murder of another. 
 
 Chisako Kakehi is accused of using cyanide to kill her lovers and make millions from insurance payouts. Her lawyers plan to appeal the sentence. 
 
 Prosecutors said she targeted wealthy men who were mostly elderly or sick. 
 
 She became known in Japanese media as the Black Widow, after the female spider which kills its mates after sex. 
 
 Kyoto District Court ruled that Chisako Kakehi used cyanide "with a murderous intention" in the four cases, and that she should be held responsible for the crimes even though she had been diagnosed with dementia. 
 
 "The cases were well prepared in advance. They were cunning and malicious. I have no choice but to impose the ultimate penalty," Judge Ayako Nakagawa said. 
 
 Kakehi, who was wearing a hearing aid and asked the judge to speak loudly during the proceedings, showed no emotion when the sentence was handed down. 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The "marathon trial" as it was nicknamed lasted 135 days 
 
 Ms Kakehi was accused of murdering her fourth husband, 75-year-old Isao Kakehi, on 28 December 2013, a month after they got married. 
 
 She was also accused of killing two other boyfriends, aged between 70 and 80, and the attempted murder and robbery of another boyfriend - who later died of cancer - between 2007 and 2013. 
 
 The trial heard that she had joined matchmaking services in which she had specifically requested to meet men who were rich and childless. 
 
 She reportedly inherited around one billion yen ($8.8 million) in all, although she later lost some of it through the stock market. 
 
 During the 135 day trial Kakehi appeared to admit killing Isao Kakehi, saying he had not treated her well financially, but later retracted it. 
 
 Her lawyers said at the time that her testimony could not be trusted because of her dementia. They have appealed against the death sentence to a higher court, arguing that her dementia means she cannot be held criminally liable. 
 
 The high profile case saw over 560 people queue to get into the Kyoto courtroom to witness the outcome of the marathon trial. 
 
 It is the second-longest court case involving a jury since 2009, when Japan introduced a joint judge-jury system. ||||| Chisako Kakehi sentenced to hang after tricking elderly lovers into drinking cyanide and pocketing millions in insurance payouts and inheritance 
 
 A Japanese court has sentenced to death a one-time millionairess dubbed the “Black Widow”, who tricked elderly lovers into drinking cyanide and pocketed millions in insurance payouts and inheritance. 
 
 Kyoto District Court sentenced Chisako Kakehi, 70, over the murder of three men – including a husband – and the attempted murder of another, ending a high-profile case that has gripped the country. 
 
 Kakehi became notorious after using the poison cyanide to dispatch a number of elderly men she was involved with, drawing comparisons with the spider that kills its mate after copulation. 
 
 “The accused made the victims drink a cyanide compound with a murderous intention in all the four cases,” Judge Ayako Nakagawa told the court, according to public broadcaster NHK. 
 
 Nakagawa rejected defence lawyers’ arguments that Kakehi was not criminally liable because she was suffering from dementia. 
 
 Prosecutors said she killed the men after they made her the beneficiary of life assurance policies that ran into millions of dollars. 
 
 She reportedly amassed one billion yen ($8.8m) in payouts over 10 years but subsequently lost most of the fortune through unsuccessful financial trading. 
 
 She had relationships with many men, mostly elderly or ill, meeting some through dating agencies, where she reportedly stipulated that prospective partners should be wealthy and childless. 
 
 Kakehi, who is also known as “The Poison Lady”, is said to have stashed some of her cyanide in a plant pot she later threw out. 
 
 The poison was found in the body of at least two of the men she was involved with and police reportedly found traces of cyanide in the rubbish at her Kyoto home. 
 
 They also found paraphernalia for administering drugs and medical books at an apartment she kept south of Kyoto. 
 
 Kakehi initially refused to speak when her trial began in June but later stunned the court by admitting killing her fourth husband in 2013. 
 
 “I killed him... because he gave other women tens of millions of yen but did not give me even a penny,” she told the court, according to Jiji Press. 
 
 The accused earlier told judges she was ready to be hanged. 
 
 “Even if I were executed tomorrow, I would die smiling,” Kakehi told judges. 
 
 But her lawyers reportedly plan to appeal to a higher court, suggesting the high-profile trial could yet drag on.
– Her murderous web won't protect Japan's "black widow," who's been sentenced to hang after a months-long trial. Judge Ayako Nakagawa of Kyoto District Court ruled Tuesday that Chisako Kakehi, 70, will hang for the murders of two common-law boyfriends and a husband, as well as the attempted murder of a fourth man, between 2007 and 2013. "I have no choice but to impose the ultimate penalty," Nakagawa said, noting the "cunning and malicious" cyanide poisonings were "well prepared in advance" and "driven by greed" as Kakehi reaped $8.8 million in insurance and inheritance money, per the BBC and Japan Times. During the trial, prosecutors described how the murders occurred after Kakehi joined a matchmaking service asking to meet rich men without children. Once named the beneficiary of life insurance policies and wills, Kakehi killed Masanori Honda, 71, and Minoru Hioki, 75, and tried to kill Toshiaki Suehiro, 79, prosecutors said. That failed attempt clearly didn't deter Kakehi, who would go on to kill 75-year-old Isao Kakehi a month after they were married in 2013—something Kakehi acknowledged during the trial but later denied, per the BBC. Defense lawyers argued Kakehi shouldn't be liable for the crimes because of a dementia diagnosis. But Nakagawa stressed Kakehi was only diagnosed with mild dementia in 2016. The judge also noted Kakehi—who once said she "would die smiling" if executed—showed no remorse and "made light of human lives." Kakehi's lawyers plan to appeal the decision, reports the Guardian. Read more on the case here.