Young widow arrested on suspicion of murdering Japan’s self-styled ‘Don Juan’

Saki Sudo suspected of making Nosuke Nozaki ingest a lethal amount of an illegal drug

Screengrab. A young widow was arrested for killing her husband who was called Japanese ‘Don Juan’ (Alive People YouTube)

A woman has been arrested for allegedly murdering her husband — a wealthy man who called himself Japan’s Don Juan.

Saki Sudo, 25, is suspected of killing Kosuke Nozaki, 77, by making him ingest a lethal amount of an illegal drug.

Ms Sudo was married to Nozaki, the president of a liqour sales company and real estate business, for just three months.

The police arrested Ms Sudo at her home in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward and transferred her to Wakayama Prefecture, Japan Times reports.

Nozaki’s death caused widespread rumour three years ago.

He was notorious for publishing an autobiography titled Don Juan of Kishu: The Man Who Gave 3 Billion Yen to 4000 Beautiful Women in 2016. Three billion yen is £19.7m.

Nozaki was found dead at his home in Wakayama Prefecture, Tokyo, and found traces of an illegal stimulant drug in his body but no needle marks, leading them to believe it was a case of poisoning.

Police have also said Ms Sudo was alone with Nozaki before his death and had also ruled out suicide.

Soon after his death, the Nozaki murder case gained widespread attention.

The local government had earlier said Nozaki had mentioned in his will that he would donate all of his property, worth around 1.3 billion yen (£8.6m), to the city.

However, as his legal heir, Ms Sudo was entitled to a portion of his assets despite the will. The family of Nozaki, meanwhile, have contested the will and claimed someone else wrote it.

In 2016, Nozaki’s ex-girlfriend, a 27-year-old woman, was arrested for allegedly stealing cash and jewellery from his home.

In 2018, he wrote a second memoir that garnered even more media attention. The Japan Times reported that the memoir revealed how the tycoon had met Sudo, a model 55 years his junior, in the autumn of 2017 at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

It said he intentionally fell down to make her help him up and asked her out for a meal together.

According to Ms Sudo’ mother, she had hidden the fact that she had married Nozaki.

Meanwhile, in his first Don Juan memoir, which sold more than 50,000 copies, he said: “When I find a woman of my type, tall and voluptuous, I would tell her… I want to go out with you and have sex with you... I’ll give you 400,000 yen (£2,600) if you agree.”