Japan Executes Man Convicted of Murder for Killing, Dismembering 9 People
A man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo was executed Friday, Japan's Justice Ministry said.
Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the 'Twitter killer,' was sentenced to death in 2020 for the killings in 2017 of the nine victims, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media. He was also convicted of sexually abusing female victims, The Associated Press reported.
Police arrested him later that year after finding the bodies of eight teenage girls and women as well as one man in cold-storage cases in his apartment.
Investigators said Shiraishi approached the victims via Twitter, offering to assist them with their suicidal wishes. He killed the three teenage girls and five women after raping them. He also killed the boyfriend of one of the women to silence him.
'The case caused the extremely serious outcomes and dealt a major shockwave and unease to the society,' Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki told an emergency news conference. He said he signed the execution earlier this week, but did not witness Shiraishi's hanging.
The execution was carried out as calls grow to abolish capital punishment or increase transparency in Japan after the acquittal of the world's longest-serving death row inmate Iwao Hakamada last year.
Suzuki justified the need for the execution in Japan, noting a recent government survey shows an overwhelming majority of the public still supports capital punishment, though opposition has somewhat increased.
'I believe it is not appropriate to abolish execution,' Suzuki said, adding there is growing concern about serious crime.
Shiraishi was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in secrecy with nothing disclosed until the execution was done.
Japan now has 105 people on death row, including 49 seeking retrials, Suzuki said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saudi Gazette
3 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Japan executes 'Twitter killer' who murdered nine
TOKYO — Japan has executed a man who murdered nine people in 2017, the first time since 2022 that the country has enacted capital punishment. The serial killings by Takahiro Shiraishi, dubbed the "Twitter killer", had shocked the country and triggered debate over how suicide was discussed online. 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. 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. Warning: Readers may find some details in this story distressing. 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 then told them he could help them die, and in some cases claimed he would kill himself alongside Twitter profile contained the words: "I want to help people who are really in pain. Please DM [direct message] me anytime."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".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 also called for an assessment of his mental later disputed his own defence team's version of events and said he killed without the victims' of people showed up at his verdict hearing in December 2020, when he was sentenced to murders also prompted a change by Twitter, which amended its rules to state users should not "promote or encourage suicide or self-harm".Japan's justice minister Keisuke Suzuki, who said he ordered Shiraishi's execution, said the killer acted "for the genuinely selfish reason of satisfying his own sexual and financial desires", according to an AFP case "caused great shock and anxiety to society", Suzuki said. — BBC
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
China purges senior military official Miao Hua from top ruling body
BEIJING: China's top legislature has voted to remove senior military official Miao Hua from the Central Military Commission, its highest-level military command body, according to a statement published on Friday by state news agency Xinhua. Miao, 69, was put under investigation for 'serious violations of discipline' in November. The former political ideology chief of the People's Liberation Army was also suspended from his post. The Xinhua statement did not contain any other details, but the move marks another stage in President Xi Jinping's ongoing anti-corruption purge of China's military, in which over a dozen PLA generals and a handful of defense industry executives have been implicated. Miao's photo had been removed from the senior leadership page of the Chinese defense ministry's website in recent weeks. He was also removed from China's national legislature for 'serious violations of discipline and law,' according to a communique released by the legislature last month. 'The Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission held a military representative conference on March 14 this year and decided to remove Miao Hua from his position as a representative of the 14th National People's Congress,' the statement said. Miao was stationed in the coastal province of Fujian when Xi worked there as a local official, according to his official biography. Xi personally elevated Miao to the Central Military Commission. Another Central Military Commission member and China's second-ranking general, He Weidong, has not been seen in public since the March 11 closing ceremony of the annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing. Since then, he has not appeared at a series of high-level Politburo and military public engagements. He is the third-most powerful commander of the People's Liberation Army and is considered a close associate of President Xi Jinping, the army's commander-in-chief. China's defense ministry said in March it was 'unaware' of reports he had been detained. His photo remains on the defense ministry's website. Two former Chinese defense ministers have been removed from the Communist Party for corruption. One of them, Li Shangfu, was suspected of corruption in military procurement, Reuters has reported. Last year, the defense ministry denied reports that Defense Minister Dong Jun was being probed on suspicion of corruption. Dong has continued to appear at public events, attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization defense ministers' meeting in Qingdao this week.
Asharq Al-Awsat
7 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Japan Executes Man Convicted of Murder for Killing, Dismembering 9 People
A man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo was executed Friday, Japan's Justice Ministry said. Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the 'Twitter killer,' was sentenced to death in 2020 for the killings in 2017 of the nine victims, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media. He was also convicted of sexually abusing female victims, The Associated Press reported. Police arrested him later that year after finding the bodies of eight teenage girls and women as well as one man in cold-storage cases in his apartment. Investigators said Shiraishi approached the victims via Twitter, offering to assist them with their suicidal wishes. He killed the three teenage girls and five women after raping them. He also killed the boyfriend of one of the women to silence him. 'The case caused the extremely serious outcomes and dealt a major shockwave and unease to the society,' Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki told an emergency news conference. He said he signed the execution earlier this week, but did not witness Shiraishi's hanging. The execution was carried out as calls grow to abolish capital punishment or increase transparency in Japan after the acquittal of the world's longest-serving death row inmate Iwao Hakamada last year. Suzuki justified the need for the execution in Japan, noting a recent government survey shows an overwhelming majority of the public still supports capital punishment, though opposition has somewhat increased. 'I believe it is not appropriate to abolish execution,' Suzuki said, adding there is growing concern about serious crime. Shiraishi was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in secrecy with nothing disclosed until the execution was done. Japan now has 105 people on death row, including 49 seeking retrials, Suzuki said.
