A Japanese court acquitted Thursday an 88-year-old former professional boxer in a high-profile retrial decades after he was sentenced to death over a 1966 quadruple murder, saying investigators had fabricated evidence.
Iwao Hakamata spent nearly half a century on death row before new evidence led to his release from incarceration in 2014, leading to his being recognized that year as the world's longest-serving death row prisoner.
Hakamata's case marks the fifth time in postwar Japan that retrials have resulted in acquittals after the death penalty was given, with the four previous rulings finalized without an appeal by prosecutors.
The focus now shifts to whether prosecutors, who again demanded the death penalty in the retrial, will appeal Thursday's ruling. The defense team has urged prosecutors not to challenge an acquittal.
In the ruling, the Shizuoka District Court said "there were three instances of fabrication of evidence," including five pieces of clothing that Hakamata was alleged to have worn during the incident and his confession, which the court said was forced. The clothing evidence played a key role in his conviction.
On the clothing items, which were found in a miso tank near the site of the murders 14 months later, the court backed the defense's claim that the reddish color could not have been bloodstains from the time of the incident as bloodstains on clothing would not remain red when immersed in miso for more than year.
While prosecutors argued the clothing were worn by Hakamata during the incident, Presiding Judge Koshi Kunii said investigators put the bloodstains and hid them at a time close to their discovery.
The ruling pointed out that it is presumable that investigators resorted to fabrication of the key evidence "to ensure his conviction," as Hakamata pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial although he had confessed to the killings during his questioning.
Regarding his statements of confession, the judge said they were "effectively fabricated," as they were "forced by inflicting physical and mental pain," calling his interrogation "inhumane."
"Over the years, different conclusions and opinions have been presented by each court," Kunii said in concluding the ruling. "He cannot be identified as the culprit," based on the cardinal rule in criminal trials that giving a defendant the benefit of the doubt, he said.
Hakamata's mental state deteriorated due to his long incarceration, with signs of psychological strain manifesting from around 1980, when his death sentence was finalized. His 91-year-old sister had appeared in court hearings on behalf of her brother since the retrial began last October.
"We've won an acquittal," Hideko told their supporters in front of the district court. "Thank you for all your support over the years."
After handing down the ruling, Kunii apologized to Hideko on behalf of the court, saying "we really feel sorry that the trial took so much time."
The ruling came after the Tokyo High Court ordered a retrial in March last year, saying there was a strong possibility that the five pieces of clothing had been planted by investigators.
The high court in 2018 had initially decided not to reopen the case but reversed course after the Supreme Court in 2020 ordered it to reexamine its ruling.
"The ruling was enough for prosecutors to give up appealing," Hakamata's lead lawyer Hideyo Ogawa said.
Meanwhile, Kenshi Konagamitsu, deputy chief prosecutor at the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office, said, "We will closely examine the ruling and deal with it appropriately."
It took more than nine years to reopen the case after the Shizuoka District Court granted him a retrial in 2014, as prosecutors filed an objection against the decision.
Hakamata first appealed for a retrial in 1981, and the decades that elapsed before his retrial finally started last year have led legal experts to call for revising the retrial system, which sets a high hurdle for the convicted to reopen a case.
Some are also hoping that the debate over abolishing the death penalty will gain momentum in Japan, given that Hakamata still suffers from post-incarceration syndrome, worsened by decades of not knowing when he might be executed and severely limited restricted contact with anyone outside his cell.
On Thursday, Hakamata, who was exempted from attending court proceedings, spent his time as usual in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, where he lives. He went out for a routine walk, visiting a temple and eating at a noodle restaurant.
The former boxer was a live-in employee at a miso maker when he was arrested in 1966 for allegedly killing the firm's senior managing director, his wife and two of their children. They were found dead from stab wounds at their house in Shizuoka Prefecture, which had been burned down.
Indicted for murder, robbery and arson, his death sentence was finalized based on a ruling that blood marks on the five clothing items found in the miso tank matched the blood types of the victims and Hakamata.
The following is a chronology of major events related to the 1966 murder of four people in Shizuoka Prefecture.
June 30, 1966 -- Four members of family, including two children, found murdered in ruins of miso processing company executive's burned-down house in Shizuoka Prefecture.
August -- Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamata arrested on suspicion of murder-robbery.
August 1967 -- Bloodstained clothing discovered in factory's miso tank.
September 1968 -- Hakamata sentenced to death.
December 1980 -- Supreme Court finalizes capital punishment.
April 1981 -- Hakamata files first appeal for retrial.
August 1994 -- Shizuoka District Court turns down appeal, prompting defense team to appeal to Tokyo High Court.
August 2004 -- Tokyo High Court turns down appeal, prompting defense team to file special appeal the next month.
March 2008 -- Supreme Court turns down special appeal.
April -- Hakamata's sister Hideko files second appeal.
March 27, 2014 -- Shizuoka District Court decides to reopen Hakamata case, Hakamata freed.
March 31 -- Prosecutors appeal decision to reopen case.
June 11, 2018 -- Tokyo High Court rules against reopening case.
June 18 -- Defense team files special appeal to Supreme Court.
Dec. 22, 2020 -- Supreme Court sends case back to Tokyo High Court.
March 13, 2023 -- Tokyo High Court rules in favor of reopening case.
March 20 -- Prosecutors give up filing special appeal, ruling for retrial finalized.
October 27 -- Shizuoka District Court holds first hearing in retrial of Hakamata.
May 22, 2024 -- Prosecutors demand death penalty in final hearing.
Sept. 26 -- Hakamata acquitted by Shizuoka District Court.
Related coverage:
FOCUS: 1966 murder case spurs calls for revising Japan's retrial system
Verdict due in retrial of 88-yr-old man over 1966 quadruple murder
Sister of man on 1966 murder retrial raps "ridiculously long" process
