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Japan has executed a man who murdered nine people in 2017, the first time since 2022 that the country has enacted capital punishment.<\/p>\n
The serial killings by Takahiro Shiraishi, dubbed the “Twitter killer”<\/a>, had shocked the country and triggered debate over how suicide was discussed online. <\/p>\n Shiraishi, then 30, lured his victims – most of them young women between the ages of 15 and 26 – to his apartment, before strangling and dismembering them.<\/p>\n The killings came to light in October 2017, when police found body parts in the Japanese city of Zama, near Tokyo, when they were searching for one of the victims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Warning: Readers may find some details in this story distressing.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Shiraishi later admitted to murdering nine suicidal victims and revealed that he got acquainted with them on Twitter, the social media platform now known as X. <\/p>\n He then told them he could help them die, and in some cases claimed he would kill himself alongside them.<\/p>\n His Twitter profile contained the words: “I want to help people who are really in pain. Please DM [direct message] me anytime.”<\/p>\n Nine dismembered bodies were found in coolers and tool boxes when officers visited his flat, which was dubbed by media outlets as a “house of horrors”. <\/p>\n While prosecutors sought the death penalty for Shiraishi, his lawyers argued for the lesser charge of “murder with consent”, claiming his victims had given their permission to be killed. <\/p>\n They also called for an assessment of his mental state.<\/p>\n Shiraishi later disputed his own defence team’s version of events and said he killed without the victims’ consent. <\/p>\n Hundreds of people showed up at his verdict hearing in December 2020, when he was sentenced to death. <\/p>\n The murders also prompted a change by Twitter, which amended its rules to state users should not “promote or encourage suicide or self-harm”.<\/p>\n If you are feeling emotionally distressed and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, click <\/i>here.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n In the UK you can call for free, at any time, to hear recorded information on 0800 066 066. In Japan you can get help <\/i>here.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n