Latest news with #TakahiroShiraishi
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Daily Record
Police find nine severed heads in boxes after bursting into man's home
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: The remains had been kept in cool boxes by the serial killer. Nine severed heads were found in boxes by police - after officers raided a serial killer's home following a tip from the brother of one of his victims. The raid on the property unearthed body parts belonging to nine different people - eight women and one man. It came after a discovery by the brother of one of the women. He found messages between his sister and the serial killer on social media and alerted the authorities, allowing them to descend on the property in question. After raiding the man's apartment they found the remains, which had been stored in cool boxes. The Mirror reports authorities said cat litter had been used to mask the smell. The human remains had been stashed around Takahiro Shiraishi's home in Japan. The twisted murderer was arrested in 2017 at the apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said he had targeted "mentally fragile" women on Twitter, now known as X, who had expressed suicidal thoughts on the platform. This led to him being dubbed the Twitter Killer. He sickeningly offered to assist them with their wish to die and lured them to his apartment which was around 20 miles outside Tokyo. He then beat, strangled, killed, robbed, and mutilated them. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Shiraishi also sexually abused his victims, three of whom were teenagers, aged between 15 and 26. One was the boyfriend of one of the slain girls, who he killed to silence and prevent authorities discovering his sick plot. He admitted murdering all nine victims and was sentenced to death in 2020. Jusice Minister Suzuki said he agreed to the execution 'after careful consideration' because the heinous crimes were committed to satisfy Shiraishi's "sexual and financial desires". In March 2025 Shiraishi, 34, was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in what was Japan's first execution since 2022. News of the event wasn't released until afterwards. Prisoners are given just a few hours to no warning beforehand, while their families have none. Japan and the US are the only countries in the G7 that still use the death penalty and the decision to execute Shiraishi was condemned by the European Union.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Police burst into man's home and discover nine severed heads in boxes
Warning: distressing content. A serial killer lured his vulnerable victims, including teenagers, to his apartment where he raped them before cutting up their bodies and storing them in coolers Police made a gruesome discovery after raiding a man's apartment where they came across the body parts of nine murdered people which had been stored in cooler boxes. They were tipped off by the brother of one of the victims who had alerted them after he found messages between the monster and his sister on social media. As well as eight female victims, the body of a male was also found. Authorities said cat litter had been used to mask the smell of the human remains which were stashed around Takahiro Shiraishi's home in Japan. It comes after an evil dad kills daughter, 5, for wetting herself and carries body parts around for months. The twisted murderer was arrested in 2017 at the apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said he had targeted "mentally fragile" women on Twitter, now known as X, who had expressed suicidal thoughts on the platform. This led to him being dubbed the Twitter Killer. He sickeningly offered to assist them with their wish to die and lured them to his apartment which was around 20 miles outside Tokyo. He then beat, strangled, killed, robbed, and mutilated them. Shiraishi also sexually abused his victims, three of whom were teenagers, aged between 15 and 26. One was the boyfriend of one of the slain girls, who he killed to silence and prevent authorities discovering his sick plot. He admitted murdering all nine victims and was sentenced to death in 2020. Jusice Minister Suzuki said he agreed to the execution 'after careful consideration' because the heinous crimes were committed to satisfy Shiraishi's "sexual and financial desires". In March 2025 Shiraishi, 34, was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in what was Japan's first execution since 2022. News of the event wasn't released until afterwards. Prisoners are given just a few hours to no warning beforehand, while their families have none. Japan and the US are the only countries in the G7 that still use the death penalty and the decision to execute Shiraishi was condemned by the European Union.
Metro
30-06-2025
- Metro
Inside Japan's secret death chambers where the very worst criminals are executed
Japan's death row inmates stand on the red square to be hanged (Picture: JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images) Inside what looks like a normal, grey office block, lie the secretive execution rooms where Japan's most notorious criminals are taken to be hanged. The country's use of the death penalty has come into the sportlight again after it carried out its first execution since 2022, of a serial killer who promised to help vulnerable girls and women kill themselves, but then raped and dismembered them, keeping their body parts in cold storage. 'Twitter killer' Takahiro Shiraishi, so-called because of the method he used to first contact his victims, is reported to have spent his last moments at Tokyo Detention House in Katsushika City. From the outside, the building looks unassuming. But deep within its walls lies a chamber with a glass wall where criminals are taken to be hanged – with only an hour or two of notice. In 2010, media were given a rare opportunity to see one of the country's few remaining execution rooms, where the country's worst criminals are put to death. The sterile wood paneled room with garish blue curtains (Credits: JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images) Tokyo Detention House looks like any grey office building (Credits: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP) Inside the nondescript building, which is surrounded by a low wire fence, criminals on death row are taken to a morbidly empty room. They then stand facing a viewing platform separated by a window, and are made to stand in the middle of a red square. The square marks out a trap door which will give way beneath their feet, sending them plunging down to be hanged. Medics then confirm their death and wipe the body down in a last sterile act. Prisoners are often told of their fate only hours before their execution, meaning families and lawyers are often left in the dark until after the execution has taken place. Before being led to their fate, convicts pass a small gold statue of Kannon, a Buddhist goddess associated with mercy. Witnesses of the hangings have told of their horror as they watch officers pull the mechanical levers to drop prisoners, blindfolded and hooded to muffle their screams, through the floor into a chamber below. View from the platform into execution room (Photo credits: JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images) Despite several years without executions, human rights campaigners feared executions were making a comeback after 21-year-old Yuki Endo, who murdered the parents of a girl after she rejected him, was sentenced to death in January 2024. Yuki was just 19 when he stabbed the girl's parents, attacked and injured her sister with a machete and burned the house down, making him the first person in Japan to be given death penalty for a crime committed between the ages of 18 and 19, the MailOnline reported. The most recent executed prisoner before last week was Tomohiro Kato in 2022, who killed seven people in 2008 by driving a truck into a crowd at the Akihabara shopping district. Why are Japan's executions so secretive? Japan's death penalty law requires that the executions must follow 'utmost secrecy', according to the Death Penalty Information Centre. This extends to the convicts themselves, who typically find out about their execution on the morning it takes place, a local newspaper wrote, citing lawyer Yoshikuni Noguchi who once witnessed an execution. After the announcement, the convict is moved to a special room and monitored by security officers. Where the hooded and blindfolded convict will hang (Credits: JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images) Families are supposed to be told about the execution, but according to the UN and campaigners this isn't always the case. Lawyer Noguchi recounted an execution, describing in detail how with one pull of the lever, the body of the inmate was dropped through the hatch. He had to grab the rope to stop it from shaking. The experience impacted him deeply, with those around him saying he looked pale. He later resigned from his role as a prison officer. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page One of the most infamous convicts executed at Tokyo Detention House is cult leader Shoko Asahara, 63, real name Chizuo Matsumoto. After founding the Aum Shinrikyo cult in 1984, he attracted loyal supporters into his bizarre ideology and world of rituals, such as drinking bathwater and wearing electrical caps for synchronised brain waves. But behind the scenes, the cult was stockpiling weapons, and on March 20, 1995, Asahara and his worshippers released sarin nerve gas into the busy Tokyo subway. The attack killed 13 people. Asahara was eventually convicted of having killed 27 people in 13 murders and other assaults and kidnappings during six years of trying to build his twisted, alternative empire. Following his failed appeals for his release, the mass murderer was hanged on July 6, 2018 with six other cult members. Amnesty International feared that the appointment of Fumio Kishida as Japan's Prime Minister in 2021 showed the country's 'lack of respect for right to life'. Critics of capital punishment like Amnesty argue that death penalty is unacceptable, saying it denies human rights and it is irreversible and mistakes can happen. Amnesty also claimed it does little to deter crime and it is used in countries with problematic human rights record like China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. A version of this article was published in March 2024. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. 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Khaleej Times
29-06-2025
- Khaleej Times
'Twitter killer' sentenced to death in Japan for butchering 9 people
A Japanese man dubbed the 'Twitter killer' was sentenced to death by a Tokyo court Tuesday for murdering and dismembering nine people he met on the social media platform. Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, admitted killing and butchering his young victims, all but one of whom were women. His lawyers had argued he should receive a prison sentence rather than be executed because his victims, aged between 15 and 26, expressed suicidal thoughts on social media and so had consented to die. But a judge dismissed that argument and handed down the death penalty over the 2017 crimes, which he called 'cunning and cruel,' public broadcaster NHK said. 'None of the nine victims consented to be killed, including silent consent,' NHK quoted the judge as saying. 'It is extremely grave that the lives of nine young people were taken away. The dignity of the victims was trampled upon.' The judge added that the case, which prompted calls for tighter control on social networks, 'provoked great anxiety in society, because social networks are so commonly used.' The grisly murders attracted international attention, and the case has been followed closely in Japan, with 435 people reportedly turning up to secure one of 16 available public seats. When asked if the verdict was audible, Shiraishi, wearing a white mask, stood still and only said: 'I understood.' Family members of the victims have spoken emotionally of their continued pain over the case, with the brother of a 25-year-old woman killed by Shiraishi saying his 'heart died' when he heard the murderer's testimony. 'It didn't sound at all like he regretted it... It felt like I was being hurt with a sharp knife over and over again.' The woman's father said in court last month he 'will never forgive Shiraishi even if he dies', local media reported at the time. 'Even now, when I see a woman of my daughter's age, I mistake her for my daughter. This pain will never go away. Give her back to me!' he said. Shiraishi targeted his victims on Twitter, contacting users who posted about taking their own lives and telling them he could help them in their plans - or even die alongside them. He was detained three years ago by police investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman who had reportedly tweeted about wanting to kill herself. After she went missing, her brother gained access to her Twitter account, and noticed a suspicious handle, eventually leading them to Shiraishi's residence, where they uncovered a house of horrors on the morning of Halloween in 2017. Nine dismembered bodies - with as many as 240 bone parts stashed in coolers and toolboxes - had been sprinkled with cat litter in a bid to hide the evidence. Shiraishi has admitted the crimes, telling the court last month: 'I'm ready to admit my guilt and incur the punishment without appealing to a high court.' It was not immediately clear if he would stick with the decision to forgo an appeal of the sentence. Japan is one of the few developed nations to retain the death penalty, with more than 100 inmates on death row, and support for it remains high. But years usually pass between sentencing and execution, with the last in December 2019, when a Chinese man was hanged for the murder of a family of four. Shiraishi's crime reignited debate in Japan about suicide and help for those considering it. Japan has the highest suicide rate among the Group of Seven industrialised nations, with more than 20,000 people taking their lives annually. Numbers have fallen since a peak in 2003, but there have been signs that suicide rates are rising again in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Yahoo
Japan hangs 'Twitter killer' in first execution since 2022
STORY: :: June 27, 2025 :: Japan carries out its first execution since 2022, hanging a man who was dubbed the 'Twitter killer' :: Kyodo/via REUTERS :: Takahiro Shiraishi strangled and dismembered nine people whom he met on social media in his apartment :: Tokyo, Japan :: Keisuke Suzuki, Japanese Justice Minister "Today the execution of Takahiro Shiraishi was carried out." "This case caused great shock and discomfort to the public, with the loss of nine victims and precious human lives in a span of two months for the extremely selfish reasons of satisfying his own sexual and financial desires." "In the light of the given facts, I, as Minister of Justice, after careful consideration, ordered the execution to be carried out." Takahiro Shiraishi had been sentenced to death for his 2017 strangling and dismembering of eight women and one man in his apartment in Zama city in Kanagawa near Tokyo. He was dubbed the "Twitter killer" as he contacted victims via the social media platform. Friday's execution is the first since the July 2022 hanging of a man who went on a stabbing rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district in 2008, killing seven people.
