“Twitter Killer” Executed 8 Years After Serial Murders

The serial killer who murdered nine people in the span of three months has been executed.

In 2017, Shiraishi Takahiro lured, murdered, and dismembered nine people between the ages of 15 and 26. Eight of the victims were female, including three high school girls, and one was male. The then 27-year-old “Twitter Killer” contacted his victims, who confided their suicidal thoughts to him, using the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

After inviting them to his home, Shiraishi raped and killed his female victims. He killed the male victim, who was dating one of the women, to silence him. Justice Minister Suzuki Keisuke stated Shiraishi’s crimes included “robbery, rape, murder… destruction of a corpse and abandonment of a corpse.” 

Shiraishi’s crime spree came to an end in October 2017, after the brother of one of the women launched an investigation to find his 23-year-old missing sister. With the help of a woman identified only as “Yumi,” he contacted Shiraishi and set a trap by arranging a fake meeting.

Instead of Yumi, police arrived on Shiraishi’s doorstep and inquired about the missing woman’s whereabouts. Shiraishi then led police to the freezer that held her remains. The remains of the other eight victims were found in three cooler boxes and five large storage boxes inside the apartment.

On October 1, 2020, Shiraishi pleaded guilty to nine murders, and he was sentenced to death on December 15 that same year. He was executed by hanging on June 27, 2025. This marks the first time Japan has enacted the death penalty since 2022.