Japan hangs ‘Twitter killer’ who murdered 9 after luring them online

Japan on June 27 carried out the execution of Takahiro Shiraishi, infamously known as the “Twitter killer,” for the calculated and gruesome murders of nine people he lured through social media. The hanging, conducted at Tokyo Detention House, marks the country’s first execution in over two years.

The Justice Ministry confirmed the execution only after it was completed — consistent with Japan’s practice of secrecy surrounding capital punishment. Shiraishi, 33, was sentenced to death in 2020 for a killing spree that horrified the nation and drew global outrage.

Lured online, silenced forever

Shiraishi used Twitter (now X) to prey on emotionally vulnerable individuals — many of whom had posted suicidal thoughts online. He reached out under the guise of offering support, but instead led them to his apartment near Tokyo where he murdered and dismembered them.

Among the victims were eight women and one man. Authorities revealed that Shiraishi not only sexually assaulted several of the victims but also killed the boyfriend of one of the women to keep his crimes concealed.

When investigators finally raided his apartment in 2017, they uncovered a chilling scene: remains of the victims stored in cold containers, meticulously packed and hidden.

An execution reigniting the death penalty debate

Japan is among a shrinking group of developed nations that retain the death penalty, carried out by hanging and shrouded in secrecy. Inmates are not informed of their execution date in advance, nor is the public alerted beforehand.

The resumption of executions is reigniting fierce debate. Human rights organizations have long criticized Japan's capital punishment system, calling it opaque and inhumane. The criticism intensified after last year’s exoneration of Iwao Hakamada—once the world’s longest-serving death-row inmate—who spent decades incarcerated before being cleared of all charges.

For many in Japan, Shiraishi’s case remains one of the most disturbing in modern criminal history — not just for the brutality, but for how digital platforms became tools of predation in the hands of a killer.