Japan prosecutors won’t appeal acquittal in 1966 murders

Decision closes book on a case that resulted in man spending half a century on death row

Japanese prosecutors do not plan to appeal the recent acquittal in the retrial of a former professional boxer who was sentenced to death for a 1966 quadruple murder, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, paving the way for the ruling to be finalised.

Iwao Hakamada, 88, spent nearly half a century on death row before new evidence led to his release from incarceration in 2014.

On Sept 26 this year, the Shizuoka District Court acquitted him of murder after a retrial in which prosecutors had once more requested the death penalty.

Hakamada’s case marked the fifth time in postwar Japan that retrials have resulted in acquittals after the death penalty was given. The previous four rulings were finalised without an appeal by prosecutors.

The deadline to appeal the ruling is Thursday.

In the ruling, the district court said investigators had fabricated evidence, including five pieces of clothing that Hakamata was alleged to have worn during the incident. The items played a key role in his conviction.

The court also said his statements of confession made during questioning were “effectively fabricated”, as they were “forced by inflicting physical and mental pain”, calling his interrogation “inhumane.”

He initially confessed to the killings during his interrogation, but he pleaded not guilty at his trial.

Hakamata’s mental state deteriorated due to decades of incarceration, with signs of psychological strain manifesting from around 1980, when his death sentence was finalised. His 91-year-old sister had appeared in court hearings on behalf of her brother since the retrial began.

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, he was sentenced to death based on a ruling that blood marks on the five clothing items found in the miso tank 14 months after the murders matched the blood types of the victims and Hakamada.

Source: Kyodo News, Staff, October 8, 2024

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