'Twitter Killer' Takahiro Shiraishi Killed 9 People in Japan With 'Consent', His Lawyers Tell Court
A man in Japan, who is infamously known as "Twitter killer", has admitted in court killing nine people.
Tokyo, October 1: A man in Japan, who is infamously known as "Twitter killer", has admitted in court killing nine people. Takahiro Shiraishi, through his lawyers, submitted that he had killed those people with their consent, public broadcaster NHK reported. The victims had reportedly expressed suicidal thoughts on micro-blogging site Twitter. Takahiro Shiraishi is also facing rape charges.
While his lawyers told the court that he killed people with their consent, Shiraishi, in an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun daily, said he disagreed with his lawyers. The "Twitter killer" said he would tell prosecutors that he had "killed without consent". "There were bruises on the back of the victims' heads. It means there was no consent and I did it so that they wouldn't resist," h was quoted as saying.
Shiraishi would be awarded a death sentence if he is found guilty of murders. But his lawyers wanted the charges against him reduced to "murder with consent", which will invite a prison sentence of between six months and seven years, news agency AFP reported. Shiraishi was arrested in 2017 when police were investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman.
Police reached the house of Shiraishi when the woman's brother access to her Twitter account, and noticed a suspicious handle reportedly run by Shiraishi. Police had recovered nine dismembered bodies and 240 bone parts stashed in coolers and toolboxes from his residence. It is reported that Shiraishi used to look for young people on Twitter who posted online about taking their own lives.
He would tell them he could help them in their plans of killing themselves or even die alongside them. The 29-year-old is accused of killing seven women and one man who had suicidal thoughts.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 01, 2020 06:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).