A man dubbed the “Twitter killer” has been executed in Japan for the murder and dismemberment of nine people. Takahiro Shiraishi was sentenced to death in 2020 for the killings, which took place in 2017 at his apartment near Tokyo.
Shiraishi lured his victims, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media, before murdering them. He was also convicted of sexually abusing female victims.
The execution comes as calls for the abolition of capital punishment in Japan continue to grow. This debate has intensified following the acquittal last year of Iwao Hakamada, who had been the world’s longest-serving death-row inmate.
Shiraishi was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in high secrecy with nothing disclosed until the execution was done.
Police arrested him in 2017 after finding the bodies of eight females and one male in cold-storage cases in his apartment.
Investigators said Shiraishi approached the victims via Twitter, offering to assist them with their suicidal wishes. He killed the eight women, including teenagers, after raping them, and also killed a boyfriend of one of the women to silence him.
Japan’s suicide rate ranks among the world’s highest. Following a recent decline, the number has climbed back this year as people were hit by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan’s crime rate is relatively low, but it has seen some high-profile mass killings in recent years.
