Takahiro Shiraishi

"Twitter killer" redirects here. For the app by Meta Platforms nicknamed the "Twitter Killer", see Threads (app).

Takahiro Shiraishi
白石隆浩
Born(1990-10-09)9 October 1990[1][2]
Machida, Tokyo,[3] Japan
Died27 June 2025(2025-06-27) (aged 34)
Tokyo Detention House, Tokyo, Japan
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Other names"Twitter killer"
Criminal statusExecuted
ConvictionAggravated murder (9 counts)
Criminal penaltyDeath
Details
Victims9
Span of crimes
22 August – 17 October 2017
CountryJapan
LocationZama, Kanagawa
Date apprehended
31 October 2017

Takahiro Shiraishi (白石隆浩, Shiraishi Takahiro; 9 October 1990 – 27 June 2025)[1][2] was a Japanese serial killer and rapist. He was also known as the "Twitter killer", which he was labeled as in most media reports at the time of his sentencing. In Zama, Japan, between August and October 2017, he murdered nine people, eight of them being young women, including three high school girls.[4][5]

Background

Shiraishi worked as a scout who lured women into brothels to work in the sex industry in Kabukichō, Tokyo's biggest red-light district. People warned locals about him, describing him as a "creepy scout".[6] Shiraishi moved to an apartment in Zama, Kanagawa, in August 2017.[7]

On the social media platform Twitter, Shiraishi invited suicidal people to his home, where he offered to either help them die or watch them kill themselves.[8] A friend indicated that Shiraishi had played choking games with schoolfriends, and signs of his later victims indicated that they had been strangled.[6]

Investigations and arrest

One of the missing women's brothers started an investigation to find his sister. A woman known only as "Yumi" assisted him by contacting Shiraishi and setting up a fake appointment. They both involved the police.[9]

The police arrived at the apartment and asked where the missing woman was.[10] Shiraishi indicated she was in the freezer. Police found nine dismembered bodies in the house. In three cooler boxes and five large storage boxes, police found heads, legs, and arms. Neighbors corroborated the events by confirming that foul smells of rotting flesh had come from the house. Shiraishi had discarded elements of the people into his bin, which had been taken away in the recycled garbage. The nine victims were eight women and one man, all of whom were between the ages of 15 and 26.[11]

The police investigation confirmed the missing woman had been walking with Shiraishi on 23 October 2017.[12] Shiraishi confessed to killing and dismembering the nine people. Most of the victims were suicidal women whom he lured on social media – in some cases, offering to help them die, and in others, proposing to commit suicide together with them.[13][11] Before he committed the murders, Shiraishi had told his father his life had no meaning.[11] Shiraishi claimed his motive was sex and financial gain; he raped and robbed his female victims. He killed his only male victim because he was searching for one of the women Shiraishi had killed.[13]

Trial and execution

Shiraishi's lawyers had intended to base their defence on the fact that Shiraishi had obtained the consent of most of his victims to kill them.[13] However, contrary to the plans of his defence team, Shiraishi pleaded guilty to nine murders on 1 October 2020.[14] On 15 December 2020, he was sentenced to death.[15] He indicated he would not appeal his sentence.[16] Shiraishi's death sentence was finalized in January 2021,[17] and he was executed by hanging on 27 June 2025.[18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b 座間 9人殺害事件初公判 【法廷詳細】 [Zama 9 people murder case first trial [court details]]. NHK News (in Japanese). NHK. 30 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. ＜平成2年10月9日＞ 神奈川県内で出生。 [<9 October 1990> Born in Kanagawa Prefecture.]
  2. ^ a b Shibui, Tetsuya (27 November 2020). 「育て方が悪かったの？　なぜこんなことができるの？」9人殺害・白石被告、母親の悲痛な叫び ["Did I raise him badly? How could he do something like this?" The anguished cry of the mother of the accused, Shiraishi, who murdered nine people]. Bunshun Online (in Japanese). Bungeishunjū. p. 2. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021. 平成2（1990）年10月9日、隆浩を出産しました。 [On 9 October 1990, I gave birth to Takahiro.]
  3. ^ Kato, Azusa; Nishimura, Naomi (13 December 2020). 「虫も殺せぬ子」に生じた異変　母が回想した白石被告 [Something strange happened to the "child who can't even kill an insect" – Defendant Shiraishi's mother recalls]. The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese).
  4. ^ 「カネ」に執着 座間９遺体事件から１年、白石被告の素顔 [Obsessed with "money": One year after the Zama 9 bodies case, the real face of defendant Shiraishi]. The Sankei News (in Japanese). 28 October 2018. p. 1. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  5. ^ Yamaguchi, Mari (27 June 2025). "Japan executes man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering 9 people in his apartment". AP News. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b "How Japan's suspected serial killer went from quiet child to sex trade scout". SBS News. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. ^ Rich, Motoko (1 November 2017). "Suspect in Japan Serial-Killer Case Sought Out Suicidal People (Published 2017)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  8. ^ Ramsland, Katherine (29 December 2017). "Notable Crimes of 2017". Psychology Today. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Chilling details emerge as suspected Japan serial killer is questioned". CBS News. 2 November 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  10. ^ France-Presse, Agence (27 June 2025). "'Twitter killer' who murdered nine in Japan reportedly executed". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  11. ^ a b c Sim, Walter (5 November 2017). "Inside the mind of the Japanese serial killer who killed 9 people". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Serial killer who hid nine heads in his house 'offered suicide pacts to women'". The Independent. 1 November 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  13. ^ a b c Takiguchi, Nobuyuki (25 September 2020). "Suspected killer of 9 people defies lawyers, says he will plead guilty". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Japan 'Twitter killer' pleads guilty to murders". BBC News. October 2020. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Japan 'Twitter killer' Takahiro Shiraishi sentenced to death". BBC News Asia. 15 December 2020. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  16. ^ Wakatsuki, Yoko; Cheung, Eric (15 December 2020). "Japanese 'Twitter killer' sentenced to death for murders of nine people". CNN. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Death sentence finalized for Japan's 'Twitter killer'". 6 January 2021. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Serial killer's death sentence stands; deadline for appeal over". The Asahi Shimbun. 27 June 2025. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Japan executes 'Twitter killer' who murdered 9 people: Media reports". The Straits Times. 27 June 2025.
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