Japan Executes ‘Twitter Killer’ Who Murdered 9 People He Met Online

Japan has executed a man dubbed the "Twitter killer" who murdered and dismembered nine people he met online, in the nation's first enactment of the death penalty since 2022.

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TOKYO —

Takahiro Shiraishi, 34, was hanged on June 27 for killing his young victims, all but one of whom were women, after contacting them on the social media platform now called X.

He targeted users who posted about taking their own lives, telling them he could help them in their plans, or even die alongside them.

Japan's Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said Shiraishi's crimes, carried out in 2017, included "robbery, rape, murder...destruction of a corpse and abandonment of a corpse."

"Nine victims were beaten and strangled, killed, robbed and then mutilated with parts of their bodies concealed in boxes, and parts discarded in a garbage dump," he told reporters in Tokyo on June 27.

Shiraishi acted "for the genuinely selfish reason of satisfying his own sexual and financial desires," and the murders "caused great shock and anxiety to society." "After much careful consideration, I ordered the execution," he added.