Japan’s ‘Twitter killer’ Takahiro Shiraishi sentenced to death for nine murders
- He confessed to murdering, dismembering and storing the bodies of nine people who had posted suicidal thoughts on social media
- Whether Shiraishi killed the victims with their consent was the major point of contention in the trial
Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, was found guilty in a high-profile case in the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court of murdering, dismembering and storing the bodies of the nine in his flat near Tokyo.
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Japan’s ‘Twitter killer’ sentenced to death for killing and dismembering nine people
Presiding Judge Naokuni Yano ruled that the nine victims did not consent to being killed, and that Shiraishi was mentally fit to be held responsible for the murders.
The judge described the crimes as extremely vicious, adding the case had given people a cause for concern regarding how deeply rooted social media has become in society.
Whether Shiraishi killed the victims with their consent was the major point of contention in the trial.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Shiraishi, who pleaded guilty to the crimes, but defence lawyers argued that he was guilty only of the lesser charge of homicide with consent as he had his victims’ tacit approval based on messages they sent to him.