Tokyo | The man dubbed the “Twitter killer,” who allegedly murdered and dismembered nine people trapped via social media in Japan, pleaded guilty in court in Tokyo on Wednesday, local media reported.
Takahiro Shiraishi, 29, who is accused of storing the skinned bodies of his victims in coolers, did not dispute the nine murder charges he faces, saying they “are all correct” , reported the public broadcaster NHK.
On Halloween morning in 2017, police discovered a house of horrors at Takahiro Shiraishi’s home: nine dismembered bodies with as many as 240 pieces of bone hidden in coolers and toolboxes, sprinkled with kitty litter in an attempt to conceal the evidence.
The man is believed to have lured victims aged 15 to 26 with suicidal tendencies via Twitter by telling them he could help them with their plans or even die alongside them.
Police arrested Takahiro Shiraishi three years ago while investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman who allegedly tweeted that she wanted to kill herself.
After the disappearance of the young woman, her brother would have managed to connect to his Twitter account and would have noticed a suspicious username in his exchanges.
More than 600 people lined up outside the court to try to secure one of 13 public seats for the first hearing, NHK said.
Lawyers for the defendant are calling for the charges to be reduced to “murder with consent”, which carries a sentence ranging from six months to seven years in prison, arguing that the victims consented to be killed, according to the report. NHK.
If convicted of murder, Takahiro Shiraishi faces the death penalty, which is executed by hanging in Japan.
Japan has the highest suicide rate among the industrialized G7 countries, with more than 20,000 suicides per year. But the suicide rate has been dropping since it peaked in 2003.