Latest news with #TakahiroShiraishi
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Japan executes ‘Twitter Killer' who lured and dismembered nine suicidal victims in Zama ‘house of horrors'
Japan executed Takahiro Shiraishi, infamously known as the 'Twitter killer'. He murdered nine individuals in 2017. Shiraishi lured victims through social media, exploiting their suicidal thoughts. He was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to death. The execution occurred at Tokyo Detention House. This event has reignited debates about capital punishment in Japan. Critics highlight the need for mental health support. Takahiro Shiraishi, 35, used social media to target vulnerable people struggling with suicidal thoughts, then killed and dismembered them in his Tokyo-area apartment Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Who is Takahiro Shiraishi? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Japan carried out its first execution in nearly three years, hanging Takahiro Shiraishi , infamously known as the 'Twitter killer.' He was convicted in 2020 for luring nine vulnerable individuals, eight women and one man, into his apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, between August and October 2017, via social media , then raping, strangling, dismembering them, and storing their remains in coolers and then 26, preyed upon people expressing suicidal thoughts online. Using five Twitter accounts, including one with the handle roughly translated as 'hangman,' he messaged victims that he would 'help them die,' and in some cases, kill himself alongside them. His apartment, later dubbed a 'house of horrors,' had body parts in coolers sprinkled with cat litter in an apparent attempt to conceal the first police breakthrough came when a 23-year-old woman's brother accessed her Twitter and traced messages back to Shiraishi's temperamental outreach. Upon searching his apartment on October 31, 2017, detectives discovered the grim makeshift his trial, Shiraishi admitted guilt and was sentenced to death in December 2020. His defense argued 'murder with consent,' claiming victims sought death, but the judge found his actions 'cunning and cruel,' pointing to sexual and financial motives and the extreme suffering Minister Keisuke Suzuki, after stating he ordered the execution 'following careful review of all factors,' condemned Shiraishi's 'extremely selfish motives' that 'caused great shock and anxiety in society.' The execution, carried out in secret at Tokyo Detention House, was confirmed publicly only show around 80 percent of Japanese support the death penalty. But critics, including suicide-prevention advocates and human rights groups, spotlight the mental health crisis that Shiraishi exploited. One father of a victim told reporters, 'Nothing has changed,' expressing that the execution could not heal enduring families' pain remains raw, even as media outlets report that Shiraishi's death reignites debate on Japan's capital punishment system, its secrecy, timing, and psychological toll. Experts reference the wrongful conviction of Iwao Hakamada, who spent nearly 45 years on death row before exoneration, as a warning for 'Twitter killer' case exposed systemic gaps in online suicide disclosures , prompting platforms like Twitter (now X) to reinforce rules against encouraging self-harm. Activists say the tragedy underscores the need for better mental-health infrastructure and earlier intervention, not just harsher legal now carries out capital punishment in exceptional cases; Shiraishi is the first execution since July 2022. As of now, around 105 inmates remain on death row, nearly half seeking retrials.
Kyodo News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Kyodo News
Japan executes man convicted of 9 murders, 1st hanging since 2022
KYODO NEWS - 15 hours ago - 18:15 | All, Japan Japan executed on Friday a man convicted of the 2017 serial murders of nine people near Tokyo, the government said, marking the country's first hanging since July 2022. The death sentence of Takahiro Shiraishi, 34, dubbed Japan's "Twitter killer," was finalized in 2021, after he withdrew an appeal. He was found guilty of murdering, dismembering and storing the bodies of his nine victims, who had posted suicidal thoughts on social media, in his apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture. "I ordered the execution after careful and deliberate consideration," Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki told a press conference held to announce the hanging, which was the first since Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office in October last year. The execution comes as questions are raised about the country's capital punishment system after the exoneration of Iwao Hakamata, 89, who spent more than four decades on death row. He was acquitted over a 1966 quadruple murder and his retrial was finalized in October 2024. Shiraishi was also convicted of sexually assaulting all eight female murder victims and stealing cash. Using a Twitter handle that loosely translates as "hangman," he invited his eventual victims to his apartment after they had expressed suicidal thoughts. The nearly three-year hiatus in executions in Japan is thought to be due to the dismissal of former Justice Minister Yasuhiro Hanashi over inappropriate comments about the death penalty at a political gathering in 2022. He said the ministerial post is a "low-key" position and it becomes "a top story in daytime news programs only when stamping a seal on documents of executions." Before Shiraishi, Tomohiro Kato, 39, was the last to be executed, in July 2022. He was convicted for a 2008 rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara district in which seven people were killed and 10 others injured. "No one has the right to take someone's life and it cannot be justified for any reason. Amnesty objects to any form of execution without exceptions," the Japanese branch of Amnesty International said in a statement. The human rights organization urged the Japanese government to take measures to swiftly end the practice. While domestic legal experts have called for a review of the death penalty amid international pressure to end executions and following Hakamata's acquittal, a 2024 government survey on the issue showed over 80 percent of those polled support the system, calling it "unavoidable." It was the fifth consecutive time that support for capital punishment exceeded 80 percent in the government poll, conducted every five years. After the execution of Shiraishi, there are 105 inmates on death row in Japan, of whom 49 have filed retrial requests. Japan and the United States are the only Group of Seven nations still handing down capital sentences. The European Union, which bars countries with the death penalty from joining, has been vocal in calling on Japan to review its stance. According to Amnesty International, a total of 15 countries conducted executions in 2024. Related coverage: Death penalty ruling finalized for Japan's "Twitter killer" Man acquitted of 1966 murders awarded record criminal compensation FEATURE: Steady-handed prison guard remembers faces of condemned FOCUS: Japan makes major step toward revising controversial retrial system
NDTV
18 hours ago
- NDTV
Japan's 'Twitter Killer': The Man Who Killed, Chopped Up 9 People
Japan used the death penalty for the first time in almost three years as it executed an individual known as the "Twitter killer," who was found guilty of killing and dismembering 9 people. The killer reportedly offered to help people with a suicidal mindset, die, after selecting them online. The "Twitter killer," Takahiro Shiraishi, 34, was hanged Friday at the Tokyo Detention House for murdering and dismembering eight women and one man at his Zama city apartment in Kanagawa, near Tokyo, in 2017. Who was 'Twitter Killer' Takahiro Shiraishi? Takahiro Shiraishi, dubbed as "Twitter Killer" was Japanese serial killer and rapist. Shiraishi selected suicidal people on social media and offered to assist in their deaths. Following their enticement and murder, he dissected their bodies and stored portions of them in refrigerators in his flat. He was taken into custody in October 2017 after police started investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman. The woman had reportedly posted suicidal ideas on X (formerly Twitter) and other social media platforms. Her brother gained access to her X account and assisted the police in finding the dismembered bodies of nine people at Shiraishi's residence. Every victim had reportedly expressed their desire to take their own life on the internet. Using his X name "hangman," Shiraishi reached out to them on social media and convinced them to visit his flat in exchange for helping them die. He later killed them and tried to conceal the stench by hiding bits of their remains in toolboxes and coolers with cat litter. Shiraishi was eventually convicted in December 2020 of killing, raping, and dismembering nine individuals, aged between 15 and 26, at his flat in Zama city in Kanagawa near Tokyo. Shiraishi's hanging was approved by Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, who stated he reached the decision after considering the prisoner's "extremely selfish" motivation for actions that "caused great shock and unrest to society." Shiraishi's attorneys argued for the lower charge of "murder with consent" during the prosecution's attempt to have him executed, arguing that his victims had consented to die. They also demanded that Shiraishi's mental health be evaluated, per CNN. Prior to Shiraishi, a man named Tomohiro Kato was put to death in 2022 for an attack in Tokyo's Akihabara in 2008. Seven people were killed when Kato drove a rented two-ton truck into a crowd and then went on a stabbing rampage. In Japan, execution dates are kept secret until the penalty has been carried out, and the death penalty is administered by hanging. Families and solicitors are typically not informed until after the execution has occurred, and executions are performed in complete secrecy with little to no prior notice.
Extra.ie
18 hours 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.
Express Tribune
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Japan's First Death Sentence in Three Years: 'Twitter Killer' Hanged
Japan's Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks at a news conference about the execution of a man who killed nine people after contacting them on social media, in Tokyo, Japan (Photo: Reuters) Japan executed on Friday a man 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 andunrest to society." 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," Suzuki told a press conference. There are currently 105 death row inmates in Japan, he added.
