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TOKYO (AFP) – A Japanese man dubbed the “Twitter killer” withdrew an appeal from his guilty verdict and death sentence for the murder of nine people, a judicial official said on Wednesday (December 23).
Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, filed the motion Monday to withdraw the appeal filed by his attorneys, a court spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
Shiraishi lured people who posted comments online about suicidal thoughts to his home, where he killed and massacred his young victims. All but one of those killed were women and were between 15 and 26 years old.
During his trial, he did not contest the charges against him, although his lawyer attempted to reduce his sentence, arguing that the suicidal thoughts expressed by the victims indicated their willingness to die.
Shiraishi was arrested three years ago when police were investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman who reportedly tweeted about wanting to commit suicide.
His brother gained access to his Twitter account and eventually led police to Shiraishi’s residence, where investigators found nine dismembered bodies stored in coolers and tool boxes that had been sprayed with kitty litter in an attempt to hide the evidence. .
Shiraishi told the court during his trial that he had no plans to appeal any judgment against him, and told a local newspaper that the verdict had been obvious.
Despite the death sentence, he told the Mainichi Shimbun that he now wanted to “meet a normal girl” and get married while in jail.
Shiraishi’s crime reignited the debate over suicide prevention in Japan, which has the highest suicide rate among the major Group of Seven democracies.
Efforts to reduce suicides had caused a decline in recent years, but the numbers have risen again in the wake of the pandemic.
Japan is one of the few developed nations that maintains the death penalty, with more than 100 prisoners on death row, and support for it remains high.
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