Who committed the mass poisoning in Tokyo?

Answer 1

On the 26th of January, 1948 a man entered the Imperial Bank in Tokyo. He claimed to be a public health offical and he was there because of a recent outbreak of dysentery. He preceeded to give all 16 employees a drink that contained potassium cyanide. He then stole money out of the tills and left. 4 of the 16 employees lived.

The man was arrested 7 months later. He was Sadamichi Hirasawa, a 56 year old artist of Otaru, Hokkaido. Although usually without funds, Hirasawa had somehow come into some cash. When he couldn't explain where all the money had come from he finally broke down and confessed to the poisonings. He later retracted his confession but was convicted and sentenced to death. He was due to die for his crimes in 1955 but for some reason the higher Justice Ministers commuted his death sentence to life instead. Later it was revealed that the police believed that one of their own was responsible for the dirty deed.