Man who promised to help people die on Twitter sentenced to death for killing nine

A 30-year-old Japanese man, Takahiro Shiraishi, has been sentenced to death for murdering and dismembering nine people he contacted through Twitter.

Dubbed Japan’s “Twitter killer”, Shiraishi had used a Twitter handle which loosely translates as “hangman” to find people who expressed suicidal intentions. He sent them messages promising to help them die.

Shiraishi, who was arrested in 2017 admitted strangling and dismembering eight women and one man aged 15-26, from Tokyo and four other prefectures, between August and October that year.

He is also alleged to have stolen cash from them and sexually assaulted all his female victims. Shiraishi was found guilty by the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court and sentenced to death for his crimes.