Japan's 'Twitter killer' pleads guilty, denies lawyers' claim of killing 'with consent'

The Japanese man, who is dubbed as ‘Twitter killer’, on September 30, was admitted in court for killing nine people. Takahiro Shiraishi is accused of using social media to contact victims aged between 15 and 26 who posted online about taking their own lives, telling them he could help them in their plans, or even die alongside them. He is accused of dismembering his victims and storing body parts in cool-boxes. Additionally, he is also facing rape charges.

According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, while the 29-year-old did not contest nine counts of murder, his lawyers, however, argued that the charges should be reduced because the victims, who had expressed suicidal thoughts, gave their consent to be killed. If Shiraishi is convicted of murder, he will be facing the death penalty, which is carried out by hanging in Japan. Although his lawyers, on Wednesday, said that they want the charges against him reduced to ‘murder with consent’ which carries a prison sentence between six months and seven years. 

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Shiraishi says he ‘killed without consent’ 

While speaking to a local Japanese media outlet Mainichi Shimbun daily, the 29-year-old, however, said that he disagreed with his lawyers and would tell prosecutors that he had ‘killed without consent’. He said that there were bruises on the back of the victim’s heads, which means there was no consent and he did it so they wouldn’t resist. 

According to reports, Shiraishi was arrested three years back by police investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman who had tweeted about wanting to kill herself. After she went missing, her brother had gained access to her social media account and notice a suspicious handle. The police then uncovered Shiraishi’s house in 2017 and found nine dismembered bodies with as many as 240 bone parts stashed in coolers and toolboxes. 

The 29-year-old reportedly said that he did not plan on getting caught and even boasted of not being identified until his final killing. Wednesday’s hearing marked the first in three years and over 600 people lined up for 13 public gallery seats to observe the hearing. 

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