A Life Spent in Limbo

Since 1983, the average amount of time a condemned American convict spends on death row has tripled to 153 months. Yet that mammoth stretch of time is nothing compared to that endured by Sadamichi Hirasawa. When he passed away from natural causes in 1987, the alleged mastermind of Japan's most infamous and lethal bank robbery had racked up 37 years waiting for the noose.

The eternal delay had much to do with the circumstances surrounding Hirasawa's conviction. The facts of the crime were...