The Kagoshima District Court on Wednesday ordered the retrial of a 90-year-old woman who served a 10-year prison term for the 1979 murder of her brother-in-law.
Ayako Haraguchi has consistently denied killing Kunio Nakamura, despite confessions by three of Haraguchi's relatives who were also convicted in connection with the case.
Haraguchi was found guilty in 1980 by the district court, and fought through to the Supreme Court, which in 1981 shot down her appeal that was based on the confessions. She filed her first plea for a retrial in 1995 after being released from prison in 1990.