Japan hangs ‘Twitter killer' in first execution since 2022
Japan
executed a man on Friday who killed nine people after contacting them on social media, the first use of capital punishment in the country in nearly three years.
Takahiro Shiraishi had been sentenced to death for his 2017 strangling and dismembering of eight women and one man in his apartment in Zama city in Kanagawa near Tokyo.
He was dubbed the 'Twitter killer' as he contacted victims via the social media platform.
Justice minister Keisuke Suzuki, who authorised Shiraishi's hanging, said he made the decision after careful examination, taking into account the convict's 'extremely selfish' motive for crimes that 'caused great shock and unrest to society'.
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It followed the execution in July 2022 of a man who went on a stabbing rampage in Tokyo's shopping district Akihabara in 2008.
It was also the first time a death penalty was carried out since prime minister Shigeru Ishiba's government was inaugurated last October.
In September last year, a Japanese court acquitted Iwao Hakamada, who had spent the world's longest time on death row after a wrongful conviction for crimes committed nearly 60 years ago.
Capital punishment is carried out by hanging in Japan and prisoners are notified of their execution hours before it is carried out, which has long been decried by human rights groups for the stress it puts on death-row prisoners.
'It is not appropriate to abolish the death penalty while these violent crimes are still being committed,' Mr Suzuki told a press conference.
There are currently 105 death row inmates in Japan, he added. – Reuters
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Extra.ie
a day ago
- Extra.ie
Japanese 'Twitter Killer' executed
A man convicted of killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment in Japan was executed in Tokyo this morning (Friday) in a case that has shocked the normally peaceful law abiding Asian country. Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the 'Twitter killer,' was sentenced to death in 2020 for murdering nine victims in 2017, and was also convicted of sexually abusing his female victims, before dismembering their bodies and storing them in freezers in his home. Police arrested him after finding the bodies of eight teenage girls and women, as well as one man, in cold-storage cases in his apartment. Takahiro Shiraishi. Pic: STR/AFP via Getty Images Police investigators said Shiraishi contacted his victims, who had shown signs of suicidal ideation, via Twitter and offered to help them take their own lives, calling himself a 'Hanging Pro' He was convicted of the rape and murder of three teenage girls and five women, and also of the murder of the boyfriend of one of the women. The Japanese Justice Minister 'Keisuke Suzuki' said the case has caused extremely serious outcomes and has dealt a major shockwave and caused unease to Japanese society. He signed the execution order earlier this week, but did not witness this mornings (Fridays) hanging. A file image of Tokyo Detention House. Pic: Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images Executions are carried out in secret in Japan, where prisoners are not even informed of their fate until the morning of their hanging, and while Japans crime rate is low, it has seen some high-profile mass killings in the past few years. Japan and the United States are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading Industrialised nations (G7) that retain capital punishment.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Japan hangs ‘Twitter killer' in first execution since 2022
Japan executed a man on Friday who killed nine people after contacting them on social media, the first use of capital punishment in the country in nearly three years. Takahiro Shiraishi had been sentenced to death for his 2017 strangling and dismembering of eight women and one man in his apartment in Zama city in Kanagawa near Tokyo. He was dubbed the 'Twitter killer' as he contacted victims via the social media platform. Justice minister Keisuke Suzuki, who authorised Shiraishi's hanging, said he made the decision after careful examination, taking into account the convict's 'extremely selfish' motive for crimes that 'caused great shock and unrest to society'. READ MORE It followed the execution in July 2022 of a man who went on a stabbing rampage in Tokyo's shopping district Akihabara in 2008. It was also the first time a death penalty was carried out since prime minister Shigeru Ishiba's government was inaugurated last October. In September last year, a Japanese court acquitted Iwao Hakamada, who had spent the world's longest time on death row after a wrongful conviction for crimes committed nearly 60 years ago. Capital punishment is carried out by hanging in Japan and prisoners are notified of their execution hours before it is carried out, which has long been decried by human rights groups for the stress it puts on death-row prisoners. 'It is not appropriate to abolish the death penalty while these violent crimes are still being committed,' Mr Suzuki told a press conference. There are currently 105 death row inmates in Japan, he added. – Reuters
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Serial murderer ‘The Twitter Killer' who dismembered 9 victims he snared on social media is executed by hanging in Japan
JAPAN has executed the man who brutally murdered eight women and one man - aged between 15 and 26 - after luring them to his flat. Takahiro Shiraishi, dubbed the Advertisement 5 Takahiro Shiraishi was recently executed for murdering nine people in 2017 Credit: ANN News 5 The 'Twitter killer' in a 2020 court sketch when he was sentenced to death Credit: AFP 5 Japan's Minister of Justice Keisuke Suzuki announced on Friday that Shiraishi had been executed Credit: AFP Shiraishi, who committed the crimes in 2017, was executed by hanging - marking Japan's first execution since 2022. Then 27, the serial killer lured young women to his home, where he raped them before murdering them. Three of the eight women were schoolgirls. He also killed the boyfriend of one of the women to silence him. Advertisement Read more world news Authorities made the disturbing discovery in October 2017 while investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman last seen walking with Shiraishi. Cops found the victims' body parts in Shiraishi's flat in the Japanese city of Zama, near Tokyo. One resident told The Japan Times in 2017: 'I thought it smelled like sewage. It was something I never smelled before.' Another neighbour said they noticed a 'nasty smell' coming from the flat. Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Exclusive Nine dismembered bodies were found in three coolers and five large storage boxes inside the flat - dubbed the "house of horrors" by the media. The serial killer had discarded parts of his victims in the bin, which was collected with the recycled garbage. Inside the hellish prison dubbed 'Indonesia's Alcatraz' which executes death row inmates with a firing squad It later emerged that he had searched online for how to mutilate bodies before buying a saw and a meat cleaver. Shiraishi pleaded guilty to murdering nine victims in October 2020. Advertisement He told prosecutors he met the youngsters on the social media platform Twitter, now known as X. He told them he could help them die, even claiming in some cases he would kill himself alongside them. His Twitter profile wrote: "I want to help people who are really in pain. Please DM [direct message] me anytime." Prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Shiraishi, while his lawyers argued for a prison sentence, claiming his suicidal victims had consented to their deaths and that he should be charged with "murder with consent". Advertisement They also called for his mental state to be assessed. But Shiraishi later disputed his own defence team's version of events, revealing he killed without the victims' consent. 435 people showed up to watch the 2020 verdict sentencing him to death - despite the court having only 16 public seats - Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported. The murders also prompted Twitter to change its rules to state users should not "promote or encourage suicide or self-harm". Advertisement Shiraishi was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in secrecy, with nothing revealed until the execution was done. Japan's Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki , who ordered Shiraishi's execution, said on Friday that Shiraishi acted "for the genuinely selfish reason of satisfying his own sexual and financial desires", according to AFP. The case "caused great shock and anxiety to society", he said. Japan currently has 105 people on death row, Suzuki added. Advertisement The country has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. What is Japan's death penalty? JAPAN'S justice system allows the death penalty for serious crimes like murder, typically carried out by hanging. The nation's death penalty dates back to the Meiji era - with the current legal framework established under the Penal Code of 1907. Executions are rare and usually follow a lengthy appeals process. The justice minister must sign the execution order. Inmates are often told just hours before, and the executions are carried out in total secrecy. Between January 2000 and June 2025, 99 inmates have been executed in Japan. Who has recently been executed? July 2022: Tomohiro Kato, 39, was executed for a rampage in a Tokyo shopping district in 2018, where he killed seven people in a car crash and stabbing spree. December 2021: Yasutaka Fujishiro, 65, was executed for killing seven relatives in 2004. December 2021: Tomoaki Takanezawa, 54, and Mitsunori Onogawa, 44, were executed for the 2003 murders of two employees at separate pachinko parlours. August 2019: Koichi Shoji, 64, was executed for multiple rape-murders in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2001. August 2019: Yasunori Suzuki, 50, was executed for murdering three women - and raping one of them - in Fukuoka Prefecture between 2004 and 2005. 5 Cops found nine dismembered bodies in his flat in Zama, south of Tokyo, Japan, in October 2017 5 Shiraishi being taken to the prosecutor's office in November 2017 Credit: AFP
