Citing Misconduct, Japanese Court Formally Exonerates Iwao Hakamada of 1966 Murder After 46 Years on Death Row

On September 26, 2024, a Japanese court formally acquitted 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada (pictured), who was wrongfully sentenced to death in 1968 for the murder of his former boss and family in Shizuoka, Japan. After 46 years on death row, and another decade of litigation, Judge Kunii Tsuneishi of the Shizuoka District Court ruled that blood-stained clothing used to convict Mr. Hakamada was fabricated long after the murders. “The court cannot accept the fact that the blood stain would remain reddish if it had been soaked in miso for more than a year. The bloodstains were processed and hidden in the tank by the investigating authorities after a considerable period of time since the incident,” Judge Tsuneishi said. The judge added that “Mr. Hakamada cannot be considered the criminal.”

A professional boxer as a young adult, Mr. Hakamada retired in 1961 and took a job at a soybean processing plant in Shizuoka. In 1966, Mr. Hakamada’s boss and his family were found stabbed to death in their home, and Mr. Hakamada quickly became a suspect. Enduring lengthy and troubling interrogations, Mr. Hakamada initially admitted his involvement, but later revoked his confession and alleged he was beaten and tortured into confessing by police. He was sentenced to death in a 2 – 1 decision, by a three-judge panel, despite his maintenance of his innocence. In 2014, Mr. Hakamada was granted a retrial based on DNA testing that revealed blood collected on a pair of pants revealed no match to Mr. Hakamada or the victims. He was released from prison that same year because of his age and compromised mental state. However, in 2016, Tokyo’s High Court overturned this decision. Four years later, Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that the High Court must reconsider its decision overturning Mr. Hakamada’s retrial. In 2023, the High Court agreed to grant Mr. Hakamada a new trial, citing the ruling from Japan’s Supreme Court.

Hideko Hakamada, Mr. Hakamada’s 91-year-old sister, was present when Judge Tsuneishi issued his ruling and said she “couldn’t stop crying and tears were overflowing” when she heard the verdict. “When the judge said the defendant was not guilty, it sounded divine to me,” said Ms. Hakamada, who has worked to clear her younger brother for decades. Spending nearly 50 years incarcerated in solitary confinement, Mr. Hakamada’s mental health has suffered greatly, and according to his sister, and he now has limited capability of recognizing reality. Scientists and medical professionals have long acknowledged that prolonged solitary confinement causes serious harm, and according to the United Nations, can amount to torture.

At a public event following his formal acquittal, Mr. Hakamada thanked his supporters for helping him achieve “complete victory.” After spending 46 years in prison, Mr. Hakamada “couldn’t wait any longer” for a not guilty verdict. He is just the fifth death row prisoner in Japan to be granted a retrial post-WWII, and all those cases also ended in exonerations.

Although Mr. Hakamada has spent more time on death row in Japan than any other individual in that country, there are several people incarcerated on death rows in the U.S. who have been incarcerated for as many or more years. In Florida, William “Tommy” Zeigler has been on death row since 1976, spending 48 years behind bars for a crime he maintains he did not commit. In October 2022, a Florida circuit court judge indicated she would allow DNA testing to proceed on more than 100 previously untested pieces of physical evidence collected from the crime scene. Mr. Zeigler first petitioned for DNA testing in 1994, and testing done in 2001 determined portions of his clothing did not contain the victims’ blood. Additional DNA testing requested by Mr. Zeigler’s counsel was denied in the early 2000s. Similarly, Henry Sireci, also on Florida’s death row since 1976, has maintained his innocence and was recently allowed to proceed with DNA testing in his case. Mr. Sireci was sentenced to death for the stabbing murder of an Orlando used car lot owner in a motel room, and a lab analyst who testified for the prosecution, using discredited hair science, said that a hair found at the crime scene was “microscopically identical” to Mr. Sireci’s hair. In 2022, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed an agreement entered between Mr. Sireci and prosecutors to seek additional DNA testing.

Both Mr. Zeigler and Mr. Sireci were convicted and sentenced to death in cases tried by the same Orange County prosecutor and before the same judge. Neither Mr. Zeigler nor Mr. Sireci received a unanimous jury recommendation for death; and, in Mr. Zeigler’s case, the judge overrode the jury’s recommendation of a life sentence.