After a grueling 56 years, the death row inmate with the longest sentence in history was declared not guilty. Iwao Hakamanda was found guilty of killing his employer,
The man’s spouse, and their two adolescent children in 1966. The family’s remains were found after a fire at their house west of Tokyo,
Japan, and the former professional boxer was employed at a miso processing facility at the time. They had all four been fatally stabbed.
He was given a death sentence despite his initial denial of the charges, which he subsequently claimed was the result of coercion.
Hakamanda has the unwelcome status of being the world’s longest-serving death row convict after spending a remarkable 48 years in prison, the bulk of which were spent on death row.
