Iwao Hakamata: World's longest-serving death row inmate declared innocent 50 years after 4 murders

A court in Japan on Thursday (Sep 26) acquitted Iwao Hakamata, the world's longest-serving death row inmate, half a century after he was arrested and sentenced to death on the basis of some 'blood-stained cloths' found near the site of the quadruple murders.

Hakamata was sentenced to death over the killings of a senior manager, the manager's wife and two children at the miso factory where he worked. Miso is a local food seasoning of Japan.

The victims were found stabbed to death in 1966 in their house that had been burnt down.Hakamata was arrested in the same year, and his death sentence was finalised in 1980.

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The Shizuoka District Court on Thursday said the investigators had fabricated evidence, at the end of the retrial that captured the imagination of the Japanese people.

The 88-year-old former professional boxer spent nearly five decades as a death row inmate. He was released from prison in 2014 following new evidence. The retrial began in October 2023.

"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, Kyodo news agency quoted the court as saying.

The court also said his confession was forced "by inflicting physical and mental pain," describing his questioning as "inhumane."

The bloodstained cloths, used as evidence against Hakamata, were found in a miso tank near the site of the murders 14 months later.

The defence team said the colour of blood could not remain red in the tankfor such a long time. The court agreed to this argument.

In 2023 March, the Tokyo High Court had ordered the retrial, citing the strong possibility ofinvestigators planting the five pieces of clothing.

The high court in 2018 had initially decided not to reopen the case. Butthe Supreme Court in 2020 ordered it to re-examine its ruling, Kyodo news agency reported.

Hakamada,who maintained his innocence throughout all these years, was helped by his elder sister, Hakamada Hideko.

Hideko, who was 33 at the time of his arrest, was a firm supporter of her brother, appearing in court to support him for all these five decades.

Iwao wrote to his family from prison every day, NHK said in a report. "I am not the culprit. I am screaming every day," he wrote to his mother in 1967, a year after his arrest.

(With inputs from agencies)