Japan's Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Acquitted

Iwao Hakamada spent 45 years on death row after being convicted of murder and arson. Recently, a court ruled he wasn't responsible for a 1966 multiple murder case. This decision came after critical doubts were raised regarding the evidence against him, which investigators allegedly fabricated.

At 88 years old, Hakamada is recognized as the world’s longest-serving death row inmate. He endured 48 years in prison, with over 45 of those years awaiting execution. His conviction occurred in 1968 for the murder of his former employer, the employer’s wife, and two children, including the arson of their home.

On Thursday, in a court in Shizuoka, presiding judge Koshi Kunii declared Hakamada not guilty. The judge highlighted that key evidence presented during the trial was fabricated, as reported by NHK.

Initially, Hakamada denied committing the murders and later confessed. He claimed that his confession followed a violent interrogation by police. Controversy surrounded bloodstained clothes purportedly tied to him, found in a tank of miso over a year after his arrest.

In a landmark ruling in 2023, a Tokyo High Court corroborated concerns regarding the evidence. The court established that clothing exposed to miso for an extended period would obscure bloodstains, hinting at possible evidence manipulation. Additional analyses showed that his blood samples did not match the DNA found on the bloodstains.

Further issues arose with the clothing presented as evidence by the prosecution. The trousers were too small to fit Hakamada, colliding with the claims made by investigators.

Lengthy appeals complicated the path to execution. By the time his first retrial appeal was rejected, Hakamada had already been imprisoned for 27 years. In 2008, a second appeal initiated by his 91-year-old sister, Hideko Hakamada, eventually led to the re-evaluation of his case.

This recent retrial commenced in October, following the change in verdicts that deemed the evidence fabricated. Although a court had ordered a retrial back in 2014, freeing him momentarily before a final acquittal, Hakamada officially regained his freedom only recently.