Japan hangs serial killer in first-ever execution since 2022

Tokyo, June 27 Japan on Friday executed a man convicted of the 2017 serial killing of nine people in Kanagawa Prefecture. The 34-year-old accused Shiraishi Takahiro, dubbed Japan's "Twitter killer," was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House.

This was the first execution carried out in Japan since July 2022, and the first under Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s administration, according to media reports.

Addressing a press conference on Friday morning, Japan’s Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki stated that he carefully considered the matter before approving the execution order for the death row inmate convicted of killing nine people.

“This case, driven by selfish motives such as sexual and financial gratification, resulted in the deaths of nine individuals over two months – a deeply serious incident that has caused shock and anxiety across society. I understand it is an especially heartbreaking case for both the victims and their families,” the Justice Minister told reporters.

“The death sentence was finalised following a thorough trial process. After careful and deliberate consideration of all factors, I issued the execution order,” Suzuki added.

Local media reported that the accused, Shiraishi, was taken into custody in 2017 after the remains of one man and eight women were discovered at his apartment in Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo.

In 2020 Tokyo District Court’s Tachikawa branch sentenced Shiraishi to death, calling his acts a “malicious crime in criminal history” for murdering, dismembering, and storing the bodies of the nine people in his apartment. The ruling was later finalised in 2021.

According to the court ruling, Shiraishi was found guilty of killing a man and eight women between the ages of 15 and 26 in his apartment after targeting them for expressing suicidal thoughts on social media platforms.

The court mentioned that the nine victims did not consent to be killed, and dismissed the defense's claim that Shiraishi was possibly mentally incompetent when the crimes were committed.

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