Grandfather Of The Longest Death Penalty In The Free World, Japanese Prosecutors And Police Apologize

JAKARTA - A head of public prosecutor in Japan in the middle apologized to an old man who for decades had been on the death penalty status who was eventually released.

An 88-year-old grandfather was released in a retrial over the murder case of four people in 1966, after more than four decades of being sentenced to death.

"I am very sorry that you have been placed in uncertain legal status for such a long time," Hideo Yamada, head of the Shizuoka District General Prosecutor's Office, told Iwao Hakamata during a visit to his home in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture last November, quoted from Kyodo News December 20.

Yamada added that he had "received the release and did not consider Hakamata the culprit."

Kaka perempuan Hakamata, Hideko (91) was by his side because it was difficult for Hideko to communicate after his mental condition worsened for decades in prison.

"Iwao and I both think it is fate. We are happy that his release has now been completed," Hideko told Yamada.

Hakamata was arrested in 1966 and his death sentence handed down in 1980. He was released in 2014 after new evidence raised doubts about his sentence and was released in a retrial in September this year.

The verdict was finalized with the prosecutor's decision not to file an appeal. Hakamata itself is known as the longest death penalty convict in the world.

Shizuoka District Court said in its ruling Hakamata experienced "physical and mental pain" during its examination and statements acknowledging the crime were "fail."

Previously, Takayoshi Tsuda, chief Shizuoka Prefectural Police also visited Hakamata's home in October to apologize, pledging to "conduct a more thorough and precise investigation in the future."

Hakamata was a former professional boxer and permanent employee at a miso factory when he was arrested for allegedly killing the company's senior managing director, his wife, and their two children. The four were found dead from a stab wound to their home in Shizuoka Prefecture, which had been burned.

Hakamata was also charged with murder, robbery, and arson.