Japan’s ‘Twitter Killer’ Found With 9 Severed Heads Receives Death Sentence

Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, admitted to his crimes in late September, saying that he wanted to steal his victims’ money and sexually assault them.

 

Shiraishi became known as the “Twitter Killer” for using the platform to lure victims into his home in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture between August and October 2017.

He murdered a total of eight women and one man, aged 15 to 26, and kept their dismembered body parts in ice chests and toolboxes.

Shiraishi was arrested on the morning of Oct. 31, 2017. Police found heads, limbs and some 240 pieces of bone during the Halloween Day raid.

Defense lawyers sought to reduce his charges, arguing that he only killed his victims upon their request. Shiraishi disputed their claims.

Judge Naokuni Yano delivered Shiraishi’s death sentence on Tuesday. They ruled that none of the victims consented to die and that Shiraishi was fully responsible for his actions.

“(The murders) were self-centered acts committed with the aim of monetary gain and sexual satisfaction. To lure victims who were mentally weak can only be called cunning and despicable,” Yano said, according to Kyodo News.

While the court only had 16 seats available for the public, more than 400 people showed up to watch the sentencing. Japan delivers the death sentence by hanging.

The father of a 17-year-old victim told NHK that the sentence was “appropriate,” according to the BBC.

“I feel like I want to get revenge, but bereaved families can’t do anything. I don’t know how to vent my anger,” he said.

Shiraishi previously expressed that he did not want to receive the death sentence, but he also did not plan to make an appeal if convicted.

“I read books that describe scenes of executions, so I don’t want something that gives me physical pain,” he told the Asahi Shimbun. “I don’t want to fight in the court, but I don’t want to face death penalty, either. I have mixed feelings.”

Feature Images via Takahiro Shiraishi