is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 woman convicted of putting poison

Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....

 in a pot of curry

Curry

Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...

 being served at a 1998 summer festival in the Sonobe district of Wakayama

Wakayama, Wakayama

is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan.-Background:Wakayama occupies 4% of the land area and has 40% of Wakayama prefecture's population. The city was founded on April 1, 1889....

, Wakayama Prefecture

Wakayama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located on the Kii Peninsula in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Wakayama.- History :Present-day Wakayama is mostly the western part of the province of Kii.- 1953 Wakayama Prefecture flood disaster :...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Summary

A communal pot of curry being served to residents of Sonobe district, Wakayama, was poisoned with at least 1000 grams of arsenic—enough to kill over 100 people—on July 25, 1998.

Two children and two adults quickly sickened and died after consuming the curry, and sixty-three others suffered from acute arsenic

Arsenic

Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...

 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 Hayashi, as she was seen by a witness at the curry dish, and she had easy access to arsenic because her husband was an exterminator. After her arrest, she and her husband were indicted on a number of insurance fraud charges as well. Her husband has since been convicted and imprisoned for insurance fraud. Prior to the murders, Masumi had been an insurance saleswoman. Masumi was also tried for three other attempted murders by poison that had occurred during the past 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. The motive of the mother of four in this case is said to be anger at her neighbors for shunning her family. The arsenic found in the curry was identical to arsenic she had in her own home from her husband's extermination business.

Trial

At trial she pleaded innocent, but she was sentenced to death in 2002. On June 28, 2005, a high court in Osaka upheld her death sentence. However, her lawyers insisted on her innocence because only circumstantial evidence existed.

On April 21, 2009, the Supreme Court of Japan

Supreme Court of Japan

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

 rejected her final appeal.

In July 2009, Hayashi formally petitioned for a retrial. The court's decision is pending.

Symptoms of survivors

4 died and 63 survived. Acute symptoms during the first 2 weeks included nausea

Nausea

Nausea , is a sensation of unease and discomfort in the upper stomach with an involuntary urge to vomit. It often, but not always, precedes vomiting...

, vomiting

Vomiting

Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose...

, abdominal pain

Abdominal pain

Abdominal pain can be one of the symptoms associated with transient disorders or serious disease. Making a definitive diagnosis of the cause of abdominal pain can be difficult, because many diseases can result in this symptom. Abdominal pain is a common problem...

, diarrhea

Diarrhea

Diarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and...

, weakness

Weakness

Weakness is a symptom represented, medically, by a number of different conditions, including: lack of muscle strength, malaise, dizziness, or fatigue. The causes are many and can be divided into conditions that have true or perceived muscle weakness. True muscle weakness is a primary symptom of a...

, headache

Headache

A headache or cephalalgia is pain anywhere in the region of the head or neck. It can be a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and neck. The brain tissue itself is not sensitive to pain because it lacks pain receptors. Rather, the pain is caused by disturbance of the...

, exanthem

Exanthem

An exanthem is a widespread rash usually occurring in children. Exanthems can be caused by toxins or drugs, microorganisms, or can result from autoimmune disease.It can be contrasted with an enanthem.-Types:...

, enanthem

Enanthem

Mucous membrane Rash arising from another focus of infection.Enanthem or enanthema are medical terms for a rash on the mucous membranes. These are characteristic of patients with smallpox, measles, and chicken pox....

, hypopotassaemia, hyperphorpahataemia, leukocytosis

Leukocytosis

Leukocytosis is a raised white blood cell count above the normal range in the blood. It is frequently a sign of an inflammatory response, most commonly the result of infection, and is observed in certain parasitic infections...

, leukopenia

Leukopenia

Leukopenia is a decrease in the number of white blood cells found in the blood, which places individuals at increased risk of infection....

, thrombocytopenia

Thrombocytopenia

Thrombocytopenia is a relative decrease of platelets in blood.A normal human platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood. These limits are determined by the 2.5th lower and upper percentile, so values outside this range do not necessarily indicate disease...

, anemia

Anemia

Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...

, increase in aspartate transaminase

Aspartate transaminase

Aspartate transaminase , also called aspartate aminotransferase or serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase , is a pyridoxal phosphate -dependent transaminase enzyme . AST catalyzes the reversible transfer of an α-amino group between aspartate and glutamate and, as such, is an important enzyme in...

, increase in alanine transaminase

Alanine transaminase

Alanine transaminase or ALT is a transaminase enzyme . It is also called serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase or alanine aminotransferase ....

, hypotension

Hypotension

In physiology and medicine, hypotension is abnormally low blood pressure, especially in the arteries of the systemic circulation. It is best understood as a physiologic state, rather than a disease. It is often associated with shock, though not necessarily indicative of it. Hypotension is the...

, prolonged QT interval

QT interval

In cardiology, the QT interval is a measure of the time between the start of the Q wave and the end of the T wave in the heart's electrical cycle. In general, the QT interval represents electrical depolarization and repolarization of the left and right ventricles...

, T wave alternans

T wave alternans

T wave alternans is a periodic beat-to-beat variation in the amplitude or shape of the T wave in an electrocardiogram .TWA was first described in 1908. At that time, only large variations could be detected...

, ST segment change, cardiomegaly

Cardiomegaly

Cardiomegaly is a medical condition wherein the heart is enlarged. It is generally categorized in the following manner:* Cardiomegaly due to dilation* Cardiomegaly due to ventricular hypertrophy** Left ventricular hypertrophy...

, pulmonary edema

Pulmonary edema

Pulmonary edema , or oedema , is fluid accumulation in the air spaces and parenchyma of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause respiratory failure...

, pleural effusion

Pleural effusion

Pleural effusion is excess fluid that accumulates between the two pleural layers, the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs. Excessive amounts of such fluid can impair breathing by limiting the expansion of the lungs during ventilation.-Pathophysiology:...

. (including symptoms of more than 20%)

Dermatological findings during the first 2 weeks; subconjunctival hemorrhage

Subconjunctival hemorrhage

thumb|right|250px| A stress induced subconjunctival hemorrhage in the left eye one week after hemorrhaging. Same hemorrhage four weeks after hemorrhaging. Some of the blood in the [[sclera]] has turned yellow, like a bruise....

 (24%), flushing

Flushing (physiology)

For a person to flush is to become markedly red in the face and often other areas of the skin, from various physiological conditions. Flushing is generally distinguished, despite a close physiological relation between them, from blushing, which is milder, generally restricted to the face, cheeks or...

 erythema

Erythema

Erythema is redness of the skin, caused by hyperemia of the capillaries in the lower layers of the skin. It occurs with any skin injury, infection, or inflammation...

 (8%), facial oedema (21%), maculopapular eruption (13%), acral desquamation (17%).

Dermatological findings in 21 patients at 3 months; Beau's lines

Beau's lines

Beau's lines are deep grooved lines that run from side to side on the fingernail. They may look like indentations or ridges in the nail plate. This condition of the nail was named by a French physician, Joseph Honoré Simon Beau , who first described it in 1846.Beau's lines are horizontal, going...

 (52%), Mees' lines

Mees' lines

Mees' lines or Aldrich-Mees' lines are lines of discoloration across the nails of the fingers and toes.- Causes :Mees' lines appear after an episode of poisoning with arsenic, thallium or other heavy metals, and can also appear if the subject is suffering from renal failure.- Presentation :They are...

 (48%), total leukonychia

Leukonychia

Leukonychia , also known as white nails, is a medical term for white discoloration appearing on nails. It is derived from the Greek words leuko and onyx...

 (33%), onychodystrophy (24%), periungual pigmentation (43%), acral desquamation (19%).

Fallout

Hayashi's case gained a lot of public attention. The crime inspired a wave of copycat poisonings.

External links

• New York Times story about her conviction
• Posionous Year for Japan BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  
• Japan poison arrests BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  
• Stampede at curry poison trial BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...