The Japanese Takahiro Shiraishi has been executed after being sentenced to death in 2020 for killing nine young women. He became known as the ‘Twitter killer’ because he contacted his victims through that platform.
Shiraishi primarily approached young women between the ages of 15 and 26 who had suicidal thoughts. He allegedly promised to help them die or end his life together with them. His profile on Twitter, now known as X, stated: “I want to offer help to people with great sadness. You can send me a private message at any time.”
After the victims came to his apartment, he strangled them and cut the bodies into pieces. Later, Shiraishi, who turned 34, confessed in court in Tokyo that he had involuntarily killed his victims. He also allegedly sexually assaulted eight of the nine victims.
The death row inmate was arrested in 2017 in his apartment in Zama, about 40 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. Body parts were found in freezers and toolboxes in the apartment. In 2020, the court in Tokyo sentenced him to death.
Shiraishi was secretly hanged. Friday, the news of his execution was released by the Japanese Minister of Justice Keisuke Suzuki.
First execution since 2022
It was the first time since July 2022 that someone had been executed in Japan. This is partly because there is increasing criticism of the death penalty in the country. For example, an 88-year-old man on death row spent 46 years in the death cell, after which he was acquitted because there was insufficient evidence against him.
Another 105 people are in death row in Japan. For the time being, the death penalty will not be abolished, Suzuki said.