The Twitter Killer of Japan has been sentenced to death in a mass murder case for killing nine people.
Takahiro Shiraishi, who was given the name ‘Twitter Killer’ was arrested in 2017. He had pleaded guilty to killing 8 women and 1 man, all of whom he had met online.
The Twitter Killer Case
The 30 year old man had used the medium of Twitter to lure in his victims. According to him, he picked out people who wanted to commit suicide and contacted them claiming he could help them die.
Public broadcasters in Japan stated that all of the killer’s victims had been between the age brackets of 15 to 26. All of the deceased had posts on their social media accounts that portrayed suicidal tendencies.
Shiraishi’s main victims had been the women. He had killed the man to hide the killing of his first victim.
The Charges
The criminal was convicted of raping and murdering his victims. He then dismembered them and stored their parts and bones in freezers and tool boxes.
Takahiro had been arrested in October 2017, when an investigation by one of the victim’s brother led the police to his apartment. Once the police went in, they discovered the heads and bones of the victims stored inside his house.
The brother of the victim had discovered an online conversation between his sister and the killer before she went missing.
Defence lawyers of the culprit stated that the sentence should be lessened, considering that the killings involved the ‘consent’ of the victims. Takahiro himself denied the stance and said that he had killed them without consent, for his own ‘desires’.
The Debate
People all across the world are now debating how safe it is to share struggles related to suicidal tendencies online. The heinous incident has also led Twitter to set new rules against encouraging self harm sentiments on the website.
The killer will be executed by hanging, the date of the execution has not been made public.
In case of emotional distress, please contact the suicide prevention hotline in your country. In the U.S, call 1-800-273-8255, the national suicide prevention lifeline.
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
