Court Acquits 88-Year-Old Death Row Inmate After Over 50 Years in Prison

A Japanese court has acquitted 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, after more than five decades of incarceration. The ruling came after it was revealed that key evidence used to convict him was fabricated.

Hakamada, who was convicted in 1968 for the brutal murder of his boss, the man’s wife, and their two teenage children, had recently been granted a retrial due to emerging suspicions surrounding the integrity of the evidence against him. The case has captivated the public for decades, with approximately 500 people lining up for seats in the courtroom in Shizuoka to witness the proceedings.

The grim events began in 1966 when Hakamada, a former professional boxer, was working at a miso processing plant. The bodies of his employer’s family were discovered after a fire at their home in Shizuoka, revealing that all four victims had been fatally stabbed. Authorities accused Hakamada of the murders, as well as arson and theft of 200,000 yen.

Initially, Hakamada denied the charges but later confessed under intense duress, claiming that his confession had been coerced through severe interrogations and beatings lasting up to 12 hours a day. Despite the dubious nature of his confession, he was convicted and sentenced to death in 1968.

During the trial, bloodstained clothing found in a tank of miso was presented as evidence against him. Hakamada’s legal team consistently argued that the DNA from the clothes did not match their client, raising concerns about potential evidence tampering by police.

In 2014, Judge Hiroaki Murayama acknowledged these concerns, asserting that the clothes were not Hakamada’s and that his continued detention was unjust, given the substantial possibility of his innocence. Following this revelation, Hakamada was released and granted a retrial, which, due to legal delays, did not commence until last year.

The court’s final judgment on Thursday declared Hakamada innocent, citing the fabrication of key evidence by prosecutors. Notably, Hakamada was not present during the ruling, as decades of solitary confinement and the threat of execution have significantly affected his mental health. He has since been living with his 91-year-old sister, Hideko, since his release.

Retrials for death row inmates are exceedingly rare in Japan, with Hakamada’s case being only the fifth of its kind since World War II. Japan remains one of the few G7 nations that still practices capital punishment, with death row inmates typically receiving only a few hours’ notice prior to execution.

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