Iwao Hakamada was convicted in 1968 of killing his boss, the man’s wife, and their two teenage children. He has been on execution row for more than 50 years.
A retrial was recently granted for him due to suspicions that the evidence used to convict him of triple murder may have been fabricated by the investigators.
Hakamada’s mental state had suffered greatly over his more than fifty years on death row, therefore he was deemed unsuitable to attend the hearing when his acquittal was ultimately granted.
The Hakamada case is among the most well-known and protracted in Japan.
As the verdict was given down, Hakamada’s supporters outside the court cheered “banzai” – a Japanese exclamation that signifies “hurray”.
Hakamada was not present in court because his mental state had gotten worse and he had been excused from all sessions.
Since his release from prison and the authorization of a new trial in 2014, he has been living under his sister’s care.
