Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the “Twitter Killer”, was executed by hanging on June 26, 2025 marking the first time in three years that Japan has carried out a death sentence. He was convicted of murdering nine people, including eight women, all of whom he raped before killing.
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Takahiro Shiraishi was a Japanese national. During his trial, he was found guilty of multiple crimes, including rape and the murder of nine people eight of them women. Among the victims were three schoolgirls. Shiraishi reportedly raped his victims before murdering them.
He also killed a young man who was the boyfriend of one of the women, in order to silence him. Shiraishi was arrested in 2017 after police discovered dismembered human remains in his small apartment in Zama, a city near Tokyo, Japan. In 2020, he was sentenced to death after being found guilty of rape, murder, and dismemberment. That sentence was carried out on June 27, 2025.
Inside his room, authorities found three cooler boxes and three containers filled with human heads and bones that had been stripped of flesh. Shiraishi was given his chilling nickname because of the way he targeted women on social media especially those expressing suicidal thoughts.
Using a disturbing alias that roughly translates to “Hangman”, he would invite his victims to his home, claiming that he would help them die, according to Japan’s Jiji News Agency, citing the prosecution’s indictment.Shiraishi admitted in court that he had killed and dismembered his victims, stating that he committed the crimes to satisfy his sexual desires.
Before moving to Zama, he worked as a scout for sex parlors in Kabukicho Tokyo’s most well-known red-light district — where he lured women with false job offers in nightclubs and brothels. At the time, some people had begun warning others about him, describing him as a “creepy scout.”
His case received massive media attention across Japan and sparked public concern over the dangers of social media and the safety of vulnerable users online.Japan’s Minister of Justice, Keisuke Suzuki, said he authorized the execution after a careful review of the case, citing Shiraishi’s extremely selfish motives and the profound shock and trauma his crimes caused to society.
In Japan, capital punishment is carried out by hanging, and inmates are typically notified just hours before the execution is performed. Human rights organizations have long criticized this practice, arguing that it causes significant psychological distress for death row inmates.
Minister Suzuki added:“It is not appropriate to abolish the death penalty while such heinous crimes continue to be committed.” As of now, 105 inmates remain on death row in various prisons across Japan.
