[ad_1]
Source: Tokyo – AFP
A man dubbed the “Twitter bully” after killing and butchering the bodies of 8 people after being lured on social media in Japan admitted in a Tokyo court Wednesday that he had committed the crimes, according to local media.
The public channel NHK reported that Takahiro Shiraishi (29 years old), accused of storing the dismembered bodies of his victims in refrigerators, did not object to any of the murder charges against him, stressing that “they are all true.”
He is also suspected of rape, according to Japanese media.
Twitter killer at the time of his arrest
On the morning of “Halloween” in 2017, Japanese police discovered a terrible scene inside Takahiro Shiraishi, as they found 9 decapitated bodies with at least 240 pieces of bones hidden in refrigerators and kit boxes, while trying to hide the evidence by spraying them with materials intended to feed cats.
It is suspected that the man chose his victims, who were between 15 and 26 years old with suicidal tendencies, and lured them through Twitter after having deceived them that he could help them in their projects or even die alongside them.
Police arrested Shiraishi 3 years ago during their investigation into the loss of a 23-year-old woman who wrote a tweet in which she wanted to commit suicide.
After losing the young woman, her brother managed to call from his Twitter account and noticed a username that raised suspicions in their exchanges through the network.
The defendant’s lawyers requested that the accusation against their client be reduced to “consensual homicide”, a crime punishable by imprisonment of between 6 months and 7 years, arguing that the victims had agreed to be killed, according to NHK.
If convicted of murder, Takahiro Shiraishi faces a possible death sentence, which is executed in Japan by hanging.
In an interview with a local newspaper, the accused contradicted the opinion of his defense lawyers, stating that the murders he committed occurred “without the consent” of the victims.
More than 600 people lined up in front of the court in an attempt to obtain one of the 13 seats reserved for the public in the first session of the trial, according to the Japan Public Channel.
Japan has the highest suicide rate among the most advanced G7 industrialized countries, with more than 200,000 suicides a year. However, this rate has decreased since it reached its highest level in 2003.
[ad_2]
