Retrial OK'd for second time for 1979 murder in Kagoshima
Jiji -- Jun 29
Kagoshima District Court on Wednesday granted a retrial for a woman, 90, who completed a prison term for killing a 42 year-old male farmer in the town of Osaki, Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in 1979.

It is the second time that a plea for retrial by the woman, Ayako Haraguchi, a sister-in-law of the man, has been accepted. Three such petitions were filed in total in the so-called Osaki incident. Haraguchi has consistently denied her involvement in the case.

The dead body of the farmer was found at his farm in October 1979. Later that month, Haraguchi's husband and brother-in-law were arrested on suspicion of killing the man, and her nephew was nabbed for abandoning the body of the victim. Based on confessions by the three relatives, Haraguchi was arrested as the main suspect in the same month.

As no material evidence was found, the focal point of the case was whether the testimonies of the three relatives were trustworthy.

鹿児島県で38年前に義理の弟が遺体で見つかった事件、いわゆる「大崎事件」を巡って殺人罪などで服役した90歳の女性が無実を訴え、裁判のやり直しを求めていたのに対し、鹿児島地裁は28日、再審の開始を決定しました。
News sources: Jiji, ANNnewsCH