Tokyo court orders retrial of 1966 quadruple murder case

Tokyo, 13 March, /AJMEDIA/

TOKYO – A Tokyo court ordered Monday that the case against a former professional boxer, who was sentenced to death over a 1966 quadruple murder case in Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan, be retried.

The Tokyo High Court approved the reopening of the case against Iwao Hakamata, 87, who was freed in 2014 after spending nearly half a century on death row. His sentence was finalized in 1980 although he pleaded innocent at trial.

The decision came after the Supreme Court sent the case back to the high court in 2020, having rejected its refusal to reopen it.
Chronology of events related to 1966 Shizuoka quadruple murder case
The following is a chronology of major events related to the 1966 murder of four people in Shizuoka Prefecture.

June 30, 1966 — Family of four, including two children, found murdered in ruins of soybean processing company executive’s burned-down house in Shizuoka.

August — Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamata arrested on suspicion of murder-robbery.

August 1967 — Bloodstained clothing discovered in factory’s soybean tank.

September 1968 — Hakamata sentenced to death.

December 1980 — Supreme Court finalizes capital punishment.

April 1981 — Hakamata files first appeal for retrial.

August 1994 — Shizuoka District Court turns down appeal, prompting defense team to appeal to Tokyo High Court.

August 2004 — Tokyo High Court turns down appeal, prompting defense team to file special appeal the next month.

March 2008 — Supreme Court turns down special appeal.

April — Hakamata’s sister Hideko files second appeal.

March 27, 2014 — Shizuoka District Court decides to reopen Hakamata case, Hakamata freed.

March 31 — Prosecutors appeal decision to reopen case.

June 11, 2018 — Tokyo High Court rules against reopening case.

June 18 — Defense team files special appeal to Supreme Court.

December 2020 — Supreme Court sends case back to Tokyo High Court.

March 13, 2023 — Tokyo High Court rules for reopening case.

Follow us on social

Facebook Twitter Youtube

Related Posts