Iwao Hakamada

Iwao Hakamada, 68, has been seeking a retrial for the past 23 years.

"New evidence presented by the defense lacks clarity and contains nothing new, as required to open a retrial, and it cannot be said that it will generate reasonable doubt about the final judgment," presiding Judge Fumio Yasuhiro said in rejecting Hakamada's plea.

Hakamada's defense team said it plans to appeal immediately to the Supreme Court.

Hakamada was sentenced to death by the Shizuoka District Court in 1968 for stabbing to death Fujio Hashimoto, an executive at a miso manufacturer, his wife and two children in what was then Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 30, 1966. The family's home was set on fire and about ¥200,000 was stolen.

Shizuoka police claimed Hakamada had confessed. In court, however, he said he had been beaten by interrogators into confessing.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 4, 2004
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