Sadamichi Hirasawa

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Sadamichi Hirasawa

Sadamichi Hirasawa (平沢 貞通, Hirasawa Sadamichi^?, February 18, 1892 – May 10, 1987) was a Japanese tempera painter.^[1] He was sentenced to death and was convicted of mass poisoning, though he is suspected to have been falsely charged and no justice minister signed his death warrant.^[2][3]

[edit] Teigin case

On January 26, 1948 a man calling himself an epidemiologist arrived in a branch of the Teigin Bank at Shiina, suburb of Tokyo, before closing time. He explained that he was a public health official sent by US occupation authorities who had orders to inoculate the staff against a sudden outbreak of dysentery. He gave all sixteen people present a pill and a few drops of liquid. Those present drank the liquid he gave, which was a cyanide solution. When all were incapacitated, the robber took all the money he could find, which amounted to 160,000 yen ($1392/£754/1000€). Ten of the victims died at the scene (one was a child of an employee) and two others died while hospitalized.

[edit] Arrest and trial

Hirosawa was caught by the police due to the Japanese habit of exchanging business cards with personal details. The poisoner also created two other incidents. The poisoner used a card which was marked "Jiro Yamaguchi" in one of the two incidents. Yamaguchi didn't exist. The poisoner also used a card which was marked "Shigeru Matsui" in another of the two incidents. Matsui told the police that he had exchanged cards with 593 people, including Hirasawa. The police were led to Hirasawa through finding the money of unknown origin. He was identified as the poisoner by several witnesses.

He was arrested on August 21, 1948. He was also found to be in possession of sizable amount of cash, whose origin Hirosawa refused to divulge. After police investigation which included torture, Hirasawa confessed, but he recanted soon after. His later defense agaist confession was based on partial insanity. He had been troubled with Korsakoff's syndrome, so he could say a made-up story. However, the court disagreed and Hirasawa was given the death penalty in 1950. Until 1949, a confession had been a solid evidence under the law, even if the police tortured a person to extract a confession. The Supreme Court of Japan upheld the death sentence in 1955. His attorneys tried to have the sentence revoked. Over the following years they submitted 18 pleas for retrial.

[edit] Doubt over guilty verdict

Japanese police made the montage picture of the criminal, but his face was clearly not similar to Hirasawa.

He was sentenced to death, but there was originally no conclusive evidence. In addition, although 40 employees saw the crimes, there were only two people who identified him as the criminal.^[4] Seicho Matsumoto presumed that the true culprit was Unit 731 in his books; A story of the Teikoku Bank Incident in 1959 and The Black Fog of Japan in 1960. Matsumoto also suspected that "the money of unknown origin" came from selling pornographic drawing. Kei Kumai protested Hirasawa's innocence by his film The Long Death in 1964.^[5]

The successive Ministers of Justice in Japan did not sign his death warrant, so the death sentence was never carried out. Even Isaji Tanaka, who agreed on 13 October 1967 to hang 23 prisoners, did not sign the death warrant, stating that he doubted Hiwasawa was guilty.

The poison were regarded as potassium cyanide in Hirasawa's trial^[6], but it was suspected that the true poison may have been acetone cyanohydrin which Hirasawa could not have obtained.^[7] It is regarded as one of the reasons to doubt his guilt because the victims' symptom were clearly different from potassium cyanide poisoning.^[8]

[edit] Death in jail

Hirasawa remained in prison as a condemned criminal for the 32 years.^[9] He spent his time painting and writing his autobiography My Will: the Teikoku Bank Case (遺書 帝銀事件, My Will: the Teikoku Bank Case^?).

In 1981, Makoto Endo became the leader of Hirasawa's lawyers. Besides the case, he took part in controversial trials such as Norio Nagayama.^[10] The statute of limitations for his death penalty ran out in 1985. The death penalty has 30-year statute of limitations under the Criminal Code of Japan^[9], and so Endo appealed for his release. However, the Japanese court refused to release him.^[11] Japanese court is judging that the capital punishment begin when the ministers sign the death warrant.^[9] His health deteriorated in 1987. On April 30, 1987, Amnesty International petitioned the Japanese government to release him. He died of pneumonia in a prison hospital on May 10, 1987.

[edit] After his death

Even after Hirasawa's death, his stepson Takehiko Hirasawa has tried to clear his name. They submitted 19th plea for retrial. His brain damage was also proved.^[12] As of 2008, his lawyers have submitted new evidence to prove Hirasawa's innocence.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Seicho Matsumoto, A story of the Teikoku Bank Incident, 1959
• Seicho Matsumoto, The Black Fog of Japan, 1960
• J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, The New Murderer's Who's Who, 1996, Harrap Books, London

[edit] See also

• Iwao Hakamada
• Matsuo Fujimoto
• Sakae Menda
• Mitaka incident
• Sayama Incident

[edit] External links

• Teigin jiken: Shikeishû at the Internet Movie Database
• Noose or Pneumonia? Time February 15, 1963
• Sadamichi Hirasawa Is Dead; Was on Death Row 32 Years New York Times May 11, 1987
• 19th bid to clear late murderer's name Sydney Morning Herald, July 12, 2003
• Psychiatrist, 100, fights to clear late convict's name Japan Times May 10, 2006
• Art of 'Teigin Incident' convict to be exhibited Japan Times November 23, 2006
• Experts doubt Teigin Incident verdict Japan Times November 26, 2006
• Art exhibition launched to clear Hirasawa's name Japan Times April 4, 2007
• Teigin Incident artist exhibition tour starts Japan Times May 19, 2007
• (Japanese) Teigin Case - Homepage created by his supporters
• (Japanese) Teigin Case Timeline