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Case Name Date of Incident Date of Arrest |
Defendant's Name(s) (Family First) F=female |
Charges ~~~~ Confessed? |
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名張 61/03/28 Mie Nabari City Arrested 61/04/02 |
Okunishi Masaru aged 35 at the time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Died in prison: October 4, 2015 Aged 89 |
Murder x 5 ~~~~~ Yes |
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Summary Five women died at a town meeting after drinking wine laced with poison. The investigation focussed on those in possession of the wine that day, and was narrowed to three people. The key suspect became thirty five year old Masaru Okunishi. Of the five women who perished, one was his wife and another was a lover. A great tragedy of Japanese justice, Okunishi was found not guilty in his first trial, and guilty in the second. He passed away on death row in 2015. This case is endorsed by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations as a proven miscarriage of justice. ( See the list ) Court Chronology District Court (Tsu) 1964/12/23 Not Guilty High Court (Nagoya) 1969/09/10 Death Supreme Court 1972/06/15 Confirmed Later Actions Retrial Appeals 1973/10/03 JFBA launches an investigative committee. 1973~2002 6 appeals for retrial filed. All are rejected. 7th Appeal for Retrial: 2002 7th request for retrial is filed. 2005/04/05 Request for retrial is granted. Prosecution files objection. 2006/12/26 Prosecution’s objection is granted, retrial is repealed. 2010/04/05 Supreme Court overturns repeal and grants a retrial. 2012/05/25 Nagoya High Court denies retrial. 2015/10/04 Okunishi passes away in prison. 10th Appeal for Retrial: 2017/12/08 Nagoya High Court denies 10th petition for retrial. 2017/12/11 Special Protest filed over retrial denial. 2022/03/03 Nagoya High Court denies 11th petition for retrial. Current Status: Protest is being adjudicated in the Nagoya High Court |
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