Japan | New evidence released in case of Japan's current longest-serving death row inmate

Prosecutors have released a set of new evidence in connection with a 1966 murder-robbery and arson case, including materials that they had previously denied existed, after repeated appeals for a retrial filed by Japan's current longest-serving death row prisoner.

Nobuo Oda, 76, was sentenced to death for murder-robbery and other charges over the Maruyo Musen case, in which a worker was found dead after an electric appliance store was set alight and burned down, and another worker was found seriously injured on a nearby street in the city of Fukuoka on Dec. 5, 1966. Oda has filed repeated retrial requests since 1973.

In the 7th retrial appeal filed with the Fukuoka District Court, the Fukuoka District Public Prosecutors Office disclosed 57 pieces of evidence that they had never before submitted to the court. The items include tape-recorded "confessions" during interrogations of a then 17-year-old boy suspected to be an accomplice in the now 56-year-old case, and other materials that prosecutors had previously denied existed during briefings for Oda's defense counsel during the retrial request process.

"Our (evidence) checks were not thorough enough," the prosecutors' office told the Mainichi Shimbun, denying that they had intentionally concealed anything.

According to Oda's defense counsel, this is the 1st time that the prosecutors have released a large volume of evidence related to the case. "It's a big achievement," the legal team said, though they suspect that there is other evidence that has yet to be submitted by prosecutors.

The 17-year-old had been indicted along with Oda, who was 20 at the time of the incident, on charges of beating the 2 workers with hammers, stealing some 220,000 yen (approx. $1,630 at the current rate) in cash, and setting the store on fire by kicking down a stove, killing 1 of them. While Oda has admitted to robbery, he has denied starting the fire with a stove. He is currently a prisoner in the Fukuoka Detention House.

According to Oda's attorneys, discussions on the need to disclose evidence started in around 2020, in response to the seventh retrial request filed with the Fukuoka District Court in 2013. In March 2022, the district court issued a written advisory to prosecutors to release evidence on the stove thought to have caused the deadly fire. The stove was a key item in the court decision finalizing Oda's death sentence.

In response, the prosecutors disclosed the 57 pieces of new evidence over several occasions between January 2021 and September 2022. They included the boy's recorded "confessions" and his deposition, statements by a firefighter who fought the blaze, an expert opinion stating that there were no bloodstains on Oda's clothes, as well as negatives of photos of an expert opinion on the stove issued at the request of investigators, and their notes.

In the 1966 murder-robbery case, the 17-year-old turned himself in at a police station in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Dec. 10 that year, and was transferred to Fukuoka Prefectural Police's Hakata Police Station, then to the Fukuoka Family Court on Dec. 22. He was subsequently sent back to prosecutors and was indicted on murder-robbery and other charges. He was later sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The tape of the boy's testimony was apparently recorded at Hakata Police Station on Dec. 20, 1966, before he was referred to the family court. In the recording, the boy "confessed" to his involvement in the crime, but prosecutors had heretofore said that the recording "does not exist." According to prosecutors, the tape turned up in a fresh examination of the case materials.

The prosecutors' office told the Mainichi Shimbun, "In light of the court's advisory, we disclosed the evidence after examining the need to do so and its relation to the points at issue, as well as whether it infringes upon privacy, among other harmful effects." Regarding their earlier denial that the evidence even existed, the office said, "While there were no issues with evidence storage, our checks were not thorough enough. We didn't hide it on purpose." The office declined to comment on how they had stored the evidence.

According to the defense lawyers, Oda told them that his testimony was recorded during questioning. The attorneys believe that the recording, like in the 17-year-old's case, still exists and plan to demand that prosecutors release it as further evidence.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, commented, "We believe we have given a complete response, after thoroughly checking the materials as advised by the court. We will consider our future action adequately in accordance with requests by the court and the defense team."

Source: The Mainichi, Staff, February 23, 2023

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