Evidence has emerged in a 1966 quadruple-murder case that suggests the man who was convicted and sent to death row for the crime may have been wrongfully accused because witnesses apparently changed their story during the court of the defendant's trial, his lawyers said Sunday.
The evidence in favor of Iwao Hakamada, 77, may provide stronger grounds in their appeal for a retrial, the result of which will be decided by the Shizuoka District Court next spring at the earliest.
The lawyers said the evidence amounted to statements made by two colleagues of Hakamada who were staying at the same company dormitory at the time of the June 1966 crime. The statements, apparently what the pair said on initial questioning, were only released in July.