A man dubbed the ‘Twitter killer’ has been hanged for murdering and dismembering nine people.
Takahiro Shiraishi was executed today in the first use of capital punishment in Japan in nearly three years.
Eight of his victims were women – including teenagers – who he killed after raping them. He also killed a boyfriend of one of the women to silence him.
He was sentenced to death in 2020 after parts of the victims’ bodies were discovered in coolers in his small flat in the city of Zama near Tokyo.
Three cooler boxes and five containers were found in his room, containing human heads and bones with the flesh scraped off.
The killer was given the sinister nickname after contacting and offering to help people – who were contemplating suicide – on social media.
Using a handle which loosely translates as ‘hangman,’ Shiraishi invited them to his home, promising to help them die, the Jiji news agency reported, citing the indictment.
The high-profile mass murder case had gripped Japan for years and raised concerns over the use of social media.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said he authorizied the punishment after careful examination of the case, taking into account the convict’s ‘extremely selfish’ motive for crimes that ’caused great shock and unrest to society’.
‘It is not appropriate to abolish the death penalty while these violent crimes are still being committed,’ Suzuki said.
There are currently 105 death row inmates in Japan.
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