Man on Death Row for Half a Century Declared Innocent After Revelation That Investigators Faked Evidence Against Him

A Japanese man who has been waiting on death row for nearly half a century has been found innocent after it was discovered that investigators faked the evidence used against him, according to reports.

Iwao Hakamada, 88, has been on death row for 56 years until he was recently granted a retrial after growing suspicion that investigators may have planted the evidence that was used to convict him of a quadruple murder.

The former professional boxer was believed to be the longest-serving death row inmate in the world, as reported by The Guardian.

Hakamada was convicted in 1968 of murdering his boss, his wife and their two children before setting fire to their home in Shizuoka, Japan, two years prior. All four family members were found stabbed to death, as reported by the BBC.

Hakamada insisted he was innocent, but later gave a forced confession after he said investigators beat and interrogated him relentlessly for up to 12 hours a day, as reported by the BBC. He was convicted of murder and arson, and was sentenced to death.

At the retrial, Judge Koshi Kunii stated that three pieces of evidence initially used against Hakamada had been fabricated, which included the coerced confession and articles of bloodstained clothing that investigators claimed Hakamada had worn at the time of the murders.

The judge said that investigators purposefully bloodied the clothes. Hakamada's lawyers also argued for years the clothes were not his after recovered DNA evidence did not match him.

Hakamada was released from jail in 2014 and was granted a retrial in 2023. After a year of prolonged legal proceedings, Hakamada was declared innocent Thursday morning.

Hideko Hakamada, who has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of her brother, told reporters, "When I heard that, I was so moved and happy, I couldn't stop crying."