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Man acquitted of 1966 murder case files damages suit

SHIZUOKA, Japan, Oct. 9 Kyodo - Lawyers for Iwao Hakamata, a former death-row inmate acquitted in a 2024 retrial over a 1966 quadruple murder, head for the Shizuoka District Court in the central Japan city on Oct. 9, 2025, to file damages lawsuit against the state and Shizuoka Prefecture over fabricated evidence. The filing was performed by his lawyers as he has difficulty communicating due to post-incarceration syndrome. (Kyodo)

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Man acquitted of 1966 murder case files damages suit

Lawyers for Iwao Hakamata, a former death-row inmate acquitted in a 2024 retrial over a 1966 quadruple murder, head for the Shizuoka District Court in the central Japan city on Oct. 9, 2025, to file damages lawsuit against the state and Shizuoka Prefecture over fabricated evidence. The filing was performed by his lawyers as he has difficulty communicating due to post-incarceration syndrome.

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Man acquitted of 1966 murder case files damages suit

Lawyers for Iwao Hakamata, a former death-row inmate acquitted in a 2024 retrial over a 1966 quadruple murder, head for the Shizuoka District Court in the central Japan city on Oct. 9, 2025, to file damages lawsuit against the state and Shizuoka Prefecture over fabricated evidence. The filing was performed by his lawyers as he has difficulty communicating due to post-incarceration syndrome.

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Japan prosecutor apologizes to man acquitted of 1966 murders

Hideko Hakamata speaks to the media after Hideo Yamada, chief of the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office, apologized in person to her 88-year-old brother Iwao at their home in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Nov. 27, 2024. Iwao Hakamata was acquitted in a retrial in September over a 1966 quadruple murder case, after spending more than four decades on death row. (Pool photo)

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Japan prosecutor apologizes to man acquitted of 1966 murders

Iwao Hakamata (R), 88, is pictured at his home in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Nov. 27, 2024. Hideo Yamada, chief of the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office, visited and apologized the same day to Hakamata, who was acquitted in a retrial in September over a 1966 quadruple murder case, after spending more than four decades on death row. (Pool photo)

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Japan prosecutor apologizes to man acquitted of 1966 murders

Hideo Yamada, chief of the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office, bows in apology to Iwao Hakamata (2nd from R) and his sister Hideko (far R) during a visit to their home in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Nov. 27, 2024. Iwao Hakamata, 88, was acquitted in a retrial in September over a 1966 quadruple murder case, after spending more than four decades on death row. (Pool photo)

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Japan prosecutor apologizes to man acquitted of 1966 murders

Hideo Yamada, chief of the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office, bows in apology to Iwao Hakamata (2nd from R) and his sister Hideko (far R) during a visit to their home in Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, on Nov. 27, 2024. Iwao Hakamata, 88, was acquitted in a retrial in September over a 1966 quadruple murder case, after spending more than four decades on death row. (Pool photo)

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AUM trial

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows two buses, each believed to be carrying a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult, entering the Tokyo District Court on Feb. 3, 2014. The court in a rare move summoned a death row inmate, Yoshihiro Inoue, as a witness in the trial of Makoto Hirata, following the questioning of another death row inmate in January.

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AUM trial

TOKYO, Japan - A police vehicle leads two buses, each believed to be carrying a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult, as the convoy heads to the Tokyo District Court on Feb. 3, 2014. The court in a rare move summoned a death row inmate, Yoshihiro Inoue, as a witness in the trial of Makoto Hirata, following the questioning of another death row inmate in January.

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Court rejects appeal for retrial of 1961 wine poisoning case

NAGOYA, Japan - Lawyer Izumi Suzuki speaks during a press conference on Jan. 9, 2015, in the city of Nagoya, central Japan, after the Nagoya High Court rejected an appeal for a retrial filed by Masaru Okunishi, 88, who has been on death row since 1972 over the 1961 poisoning murders of five women in Mie Prefecture, central Japan. Suzuki, Okunishi's chief counsel, said the defense will file a special appeal with the Supreme Court.

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Court rejects appeal for retrial of 1961 wine poisoning case

NAGOYA, Japan - A group of lawyers attend a press conference on Jan. 9, 2015, in the city of Nagoya, central Japan, after the Nagoya High Court rejected an appeal for a retrial filed by Masaru Okunishi, 88, who has been on death row since 1972 over the 1961 poisoning murders of five women in Mie Prefecture, central Japan.

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Ex-death row inmate urges end to death penalty in Japan

SHIZUOKA, Japan - Iwao Hakamada, a former death row inmate who was freed in March 2014 after nearly 48 years in prison following a court decision to reopen his case, seeks an end to Japan's death penalty during an event in Shizuoka, central Japan, on Nov. 24, 2014, as his elder sister Hideko looks on.

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Former death row inmate attends meeting against death penalty

TOKYO, Japan - Iwao Hakamada (R), a former death row inmate who was freed in March 2014 after nearly 48 years in prison following a court decision to reopen his case, and his sister Hideko, attend a civic meeting seeking an end to the death penalty, in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Oct. 11, 2014. Hakamada, a 78-year-old former professional boxer, was sentenced to death for the murder of four members of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1966, but was freed after the Shizuoka District Court approved DNA test results that showed blood found on five items of clothing said to have been worn by the culprit was not Hakamada's.

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Former death row inmate attends meeting against death penalty

TOKYO, Japan - Iwao Hakamada (R), a former death row inmate who was freed in March 2014 after nearly 48 years in prison following a court decision to reopen his case, and his sister Hideko, attend a civic meeting seeking an end to the death penalty, in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Oct. 11, 2014. Hakamada, a 78-year-old former professional boxer, was sentenced to death for the murder of four members of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1966, but was freed after the Shizuoka District Court approved DNA test results that showed blood found on five items of clothing said to have been worn by the culprit was not Hakamada's.

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Japan hangs 2 death-row inmates

TOKYO, Japan - Hideki Wakabayashi, secretary general of Amnesty International Japan, attends a press conference in Tokyo on Aug. 29, 2014, to criticize the executions of two death-row inmates earlier the same day. He said the Justice Ministry was motivated to proceed with the executions ahead of a planned Cabinet reshuffle.

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Former death-row inmate Hakamada hospitalized

NAGOYA, Japan - File photo shows Iwao Hakamada, a 78-year-old former death-row inmate who was released following a court decision in March 2014 to reopen the 1966 murder case that led to his conviction. Hakamada, a former professional boxer, has been hospitalized for pneumonia in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, his lawyers said Aug. 29, 2014.

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Japan hangs 2 inmates

TOKYO, Japan - Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki holds a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on Aug. 29, 2014, on the execution of two death row inmates he ordered earlier that day. Japan hanged two death row inmates in the 10th and 11th executions since the December 2012 launch of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's current government.

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Japan hangs man

TOKYO, Japan - Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki tells a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on June 26, 2014, that he ordered the execution earlier that day of a male death-row inmate, Masanori Kawasaki, at the Osaka Detention House.

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Court decides not to reopen 1961 murder case for death-row inmate

NAGOYA, Japan - Izumi Suzuki (C), chief lawyer for 88-year-old death-row inmate Masaru Okunishi, speaks to reporters in Nagoya on May 28, 2014, after the Nagoya High Court decided not to retry Okunishi for the 1961 poisoning murders of five women in Nabari, Mie, Prefecture. The court said Okunishi had no case to seek a retrial because the evidence and arguments presented to the court were the same as in his previous application.

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Man once on death row returns to hometown

HAMAMATSU, Japan - Iwao Hakamada (C), 78, a former professional boxer, arrives at JR Hamamatsu Station in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on May 27, 2014. Hakamada, sentenced to death, returned to his hometown for the first time since his release from nearly half a century of detention following a court decision to reopen a 1966 murder case.

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Man once on death row returns to hometown

HAMAMATSU, Japan - Iwao Hakamada (C), 78, a former professional boxer, holds a press conference in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on May 27, 2014. Hakamada, sentenced to death, returned to his hometown that day for the first time since his release from nearly half a century of detention following a court decision to reopen a 1966 murder case.

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Man once on death row returns to hometown

HAMAMATSU, Japan - Iwao Hakamada (L), 78, a former professional boxer, holds a press conference in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on May 27, 2014. Hakamada, sentenced to death, returned to his hometown that day for the first time since his release from nearly half a century of detention following a court decision to reopen a 1966 murder case.

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Ex-boxer gets honorary belt after release from death row

OSAKA, Japan - Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada (C), released from death row after nearly 48 years of detention, poses with his sister Hideko (L) and incumbent Japanese champions after receiving an honorary belt in Tokyo on May 19, 2014.

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Death-row inmate freed after 48 years of detention

TOKYO, Japan - A car carrying Iwao Hakamada, 78, leaves the Tokyo Detention House (back) on March 27, 2014, after the Shizuoka District Court decided earlier in the day to reopen a 1966 murder case, suspend his death sentence and permit his release. The court said there is a possibility that investigative authorities fabricated incriminating evidence.

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Death-row inmate freed after 48 years of detention

TOKYO, Japan - Iwao Hakamada, 78, gets into a car after being released from the Tokyo Detention House on March 27, 2014, after the Shizuoka District Court decided earlier in the day to reopen a 1966 murder case, suspend his death sentence and permit his release. The court said there is a possibility that investigative authorities fabricated incriminating evidence.

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Death-row inmate freed after 48 years of detention

TOKYO, Japan - Iwao Hakamada (L), 78, accompanied by his sister Hideko (R), 81, leaves the Tokyo Detention House on March 27, 2014, after the Shizuoka District Court decided earlier in the day to reopen a 1966 murder case, suspend his death sentence and permit his release. The court said there is a possibility that investigative authorities fabricated incriminating evidence.

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Death-row inmate freed after 48 years of detention

TOKYO, Japan - Iwao Hakamada (L), 78, accompanied by his sister Hideko (R), 81, leaves the Tokyo Detention House on March 27, 2014, after the Shizuoka District Court decided earlier in the day to reopen a 1966 murder case, suspend his death sentence and permit his release. The court said there is a possibility that investigative authorities fabricated incriminating evidence.

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Death-row inmate freed after 48 years of detention

TOKYO, Japan - Iwao Hakamada (L), 78, accompanied by his sister Hideko (R), 81, leaves the Tokyo Detention House on March 27, 2014, after the Shizuoka District Court decided earlier in the day to reopen a 1966 murder case, suspend his death sentence and permit his release. The court said there is a possibility that investigative authorities fabricated incriminating evidence.

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Court decides to reopen 1966 murder of 4

SHIZUOKA, Japan - A lawyer holds a banner that reads "A retrial to start" in front of the Shizuoka District Court in Shizuoka Prefecture on March 27, 2014, after the court decided to reopen a 1966 quadruple murder case for which former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada has been on death row for more than 30 years.

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AUM trial

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows two buses, each believed to be carrying a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult, with a police vehicle leading the convoy, leaving the Tokyo Detention House for the Tokyo District Court on Jan. 21, 2014. Heavy security was provided to transport Tomomasa Nakagawa, a death-row inmate, and Makoto Hirata, who turned himself in to police after nearly 17 years on the run. Nakagawa attended the trial of Hirata, charged with involvement in the abduction and confinement of a Tokyo notary public, as a witness.

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AUM trial

TOKYO, Japan - Two buses, each believed to be carrying a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult, enter the Tokyo District Court on Jan. 21, 2014. Heavy security was provided to transport Tomomasa Nakagawa, a death-row inmate, and Makoto Hirata, who turned himself in to police after nearly 17 years on the run, with riot police on standby along the streets and traffic lights changed to green to ensure a smooth procession during the convoy's nearly hour-long journey from the Tokyo Detention House. Nakagawa attended the trial of Hirata, charged with involvement in the abduction and confinement of a Tokyo notary public, as a witness.

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AUM trial

TOKYO, Japan - Two buses, each believed to be carrying a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult, enter the Tokyo District Court on Jan. 21, 2014. Heavy security was provided to transport Tomomasa Nakagawa, a death-row inmate, and Makoto Hirata, who turned himself in to police after nearly 17 years on the run, with riot police on standby along the streets and traffic lights changed to green to ensure a smooth procession during the convoy's nearly hour-long journey from the Tokyo Detention House. Nakagawa attended the trial of Hirata, charged with involvement in the abduction and confinement of a Tokyo notary public, as a witness.

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AUM trial

TOKYO, Japan - A police vehicle leads two buses, each believed to be carrying a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult, as the convoy heads for the Tokyo District Court on Jan. 21, 2014. Heavy security was provided to transport Tomomasa Nakagawa, a death-row inmate, and Makoto Hirata, who turned himself in to police after nearly 17 years on the run, with riot police on standby along the streets and traffic lights changed to green to ensure a smooth procession during the convoy's nearly hour-long journey from the Tokyo Detention House. Nakagawa attended the trial of Hirata, charged with involvement in the abduction and confinement of a Tokyo notary public, as a witness.

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Lawyers for death row inmate

NAGOYA, Japan - The defense team for Masaru Okunishi, an 87-year-old death row inmate, arrives at the Nagoya High Court in Nagoya on Nov. 5, 2013, to file their eighth appeal for retrial. Okunishi was convicted of killing five women with poisoned wine in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, in 1961.

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Retrial for 1961 murder case rejected

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in June 1961 shows Masaru Okunishi (C), accused of poisoning 17 people, resulting in the deaths of five women, on March 28, 1961, at a local community meeting in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, during the first hearing on the case at the Tsu District Court in the prefecture. The Supreme Court said Oct. 17, 2013, it has turned down a petition by Okunishi, now an 87-year-old death-row inmate, for a retrial over the case.

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Japan hangs 2 inmates

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki speaks during a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on April 26, 2013. He announced Japan had hanged two death row inmates the same day in the second round of executions carried out under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched in December 2012.

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Japan hangs 2 inmates

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki speaks during a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on April 26, 2013. He announced Japan had hanged two death row inmates the same day in the second round of executions carried out under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched in December 2012.

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Japan executes 3 inmates

TOKYO, Japan - Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki holds a press conference at his ministry in Tokyo on Feb. 21, 2013, as Japan executed three death row inmates the same day. The executions were the first to be conducted under the Liberal Democratic Party-led government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that was launched in December.

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Fukuoka Detention House

FUKUOKA, Japan - Photo taken Nov. 27, 2012 shows the Fukuoka Detention House in Sawara Ward in Fukuoka City, where death row inmate Yukinori Matsuda was executed by hanging on Sept. 27, 2012.

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Ex-death row inmate

NEW YORK, United States - Kirk Bloodsworth (C), an American who spent nearly nine years in prison and two years on death row for a crime he did not commit, speaks at the United Nations headquarters in New York on July 3, 2012.

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High court rejects appeal over 1961 murders

NAGOYA, Japan - Supporters of Masaru Okunishi, an 86-year-old death-row inmate convicted of poisoning five women by pesticide-laced wine and injuring 12 others in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, hold up messages protesting a decision by the Nagoya High Court to reject an appeal for a retrial filed by Okunishi, in front of the court in Nagoya on May 25, 2012.

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High court rejects appeal over 1961 murders

NAGOYA, Japan - Supporters of Masaru Okunishi, an 86-year-old death-row inmate convicted of poisoning five women by pesticide-laced wine and injuring 12 others in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, are left in shock in front of the Nagoya High Court on May 25, 2012, after the court decided to reject an appeal for a retrial filed by Okunishi.

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High court rejects appeal over 1961 murders

NAGOYA, Japan - Lawyer Izumi Suzuki, who heads the defense counsel for Masaru Okunishi, an 86-year-old death-row inmate convicted of poisoning five women by pesticide-laced wine and injuring 12 others in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, answers reporters' questions in front of the Nagoya High Court in Nagoya on May 25, 2012, after the court decided to reject an appeal for a retrial filed by Okunishi.

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High court rejects appeal over 1961 murders

NAGOYA, Japan - Supporters of Masaru Okunishi, an 86-year-old death-row inmate convicted of poisoning five women by pesticide-laced wine and injuring 12 others in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, raise their fists in front of the Nagoya High Court on May 25, 2012, after the court decided to reject an appeal for a retrial filed by Okunishi.

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High court rejects appeal over 1961 murders

NAGOYA, Japan - A lawyer for Masaru Okunishi, an 86-year-old death-row inmate convicted of poisoning five women by pesticide-laced wine and injuring 12 others in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, shows a banner bearing the message ''unjust decision'' to Okunishi's supporters. Standing in front of the Nagoya High Court, he was informing them of the court's decision on May 25, 2012, to reject an appeal for a retrial filed by Okunishi.

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Japan hangs 3 death row inmates

HIROSHIMA, Japan - File photo taken in February 2011 shows the detention house in Hiroshima, western Japan. Three death row inmates at detention houses in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka were hanged on March 29, 2012, in the first executions in 20 months in Japan, one of the few advanced countries to retain the death penalty.

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Japan hangs 3 death row inmates

FUKUOKA, Japan - Photo taken March 29, 2012, shows the detention house in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. Three death row inmates at detention houses in Tokyo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka were hanged the same day in the first executions in 20 months in Japan, one of the few advanced countries to retain the death penalty.

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Japan hangs 3 death row inmates

TOKYO, Japan - Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa talks about his decision to order the execution of three death row inmates at a press conference at the ministry in Tokyo on March 29, 2012. The three inmates were hanged the same day by his order in the first executions in 20 months in Japan, one of the few advanced countries to retain the death penalty.

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Evidence in 1966 murder case

SHIZUOKA, Japan - Lawyer Hideyo Ogawa holds an item of evidence related to the 1966 murder of a family of four in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, at a press conference in Shizuoka city on Dec. 12, 2011, after prosecutors disclosed 176 items of evidence related to the case earlier in the day. Iwao Hakamada, 75, who has been convicted in the case and is on death row, is seeking a retrial.

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Japan hangs 2 death row inmates

TOKYO, Japan - Justice Minister Keiko Chiba announced the executions of two death row inmates in a press conference at the Justice Ministry in Tokyo on July 28, 2010, in the first execution under the Democratic Party of Japan government launched in September 2009.