Japan retrial acquits 88-year-old former boxer of 1966 murders

Sept. 26 (UPI) -- An 88-year-old former boxer was acquitted in a rare Japanese retrial Thursday in a 1966 quadruple murder case after spending nearly half a century on death row.

The Shizuoka District Court ruling said Iwao Hakamata's alleged confession was forced and cited three instances of evidence fabrication, including clothing items Hakamata allegedly wore during the murders.

He was found guilty in the death of four people who were stabbed to death on June 30, 1966, and their house set on fire.

The court ruled the bloodstained clothing items were not worn by the murderer, but fabricated by police. The clothing was found 14 months after the killings in a miso barrel at a factory where Hakamata worked.

His defense lawyers argued it was planted because the clothing would have been discolored if it had been in a miso barrel for that long.

Hakamata was released in 2014 due to new evidence. Guinness World Records said he is the world's longest-serving death row prisoner.

Judge Koshi Kunii said his confession statements were "forced by inflicting physical and mental pain."

Hakamata was interrogated for an average of 12 hours a day for 19 days.

"When the judge said the defendant was not guilty ... I was so overwhelmed with joy that tears streamed down my face," Hakamata's 91-year-old sister said.

Prosecutors have two weeks to decide whether to appeal the acquittal.

The Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office's deputy chief prosecutor Kenshi Konagamitsu said prosecutors are closely examining the ruling and will "deal with it appropriately."

The Tokyo High Court ordered the retrial in March 2023 after the Supreme Court directed it to re-examine its initial ruling not to grant a new trial.