A Japanese court on Tuesday sentenced a man to death for killing and dismantling nine people, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media, in a case that impacted the country. The Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo district court found Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the “Twitter killer”, guilty of killing, dismembering and storing the bodies of the victims in his Zama apartment near Tokyo.
Shiraishi, 30, pleaded guilty and said he would not appeal his death sentence.
Police arrested Shiraishi in 2017 after finding the bodies of eight females and a male in refrigerated boxes in his apartment.
KYODO / REUTERS
Investigators said Shiraishi approached the victims via Twitter, offering them assistance with their suicidal wishes. He killed women, including teenagers, after raping them, and also killed a boyfriend of one of the women to silence him, investigators said.
On Twitter, Shiraishi used the name “hanged,” promising to help his victims die and inviting them to his apartment.
Although his defense attorneys argued that he helped the victims’ suicidal desires, Shiraishi later said he killed them without their consent.
In the sentence, presiding judge Naokuni Yano said none of the victims agreed to be killed and that Shiraishi was the one most responsible for their deaths, according to the media.
He said the crime was extremely heinous and had caused fear and concern in a society where social media has become an indispensable part of everyday life, NHK public television reported.
Japan’s suicide rate it ranks among the highest in the world. After a recent decline, the figure has retreated this year as people suffered the effects of the pandemic.
Japan’s crime rate is relatively low, but it has experienced some recent killings. In July 2016, a former employee of a disability home allegedly killed 19 residents and injured more than 20 people.