Japan’s ‘Twitter killer’ who lured ‘suicidal’ young women to his home then hanged and dismembered them charged with nine murders
Takahiro Shiraishi, 27, has admitted to killing and butchering nine people - all but one of whom were women aged between 15 and 26
A SUSPECTED killer who is believed to have hanged and chopped up victims he met on Twitter has been charged with nine counts of murder.
Takahiro Shiraishi, 27, has reportedly admitted to killing and butchering nine people - all but one of whom were women aged between 15 and 26.
He is suspected of luring people with suicidal tendencies online by telling them he could help them in their plans or even die alongside them.
Under one account, he is said to have cast himself as desperate. ";I want to forget everything," he allegedly wrote in an August 25 post. "I want to disappear."
In another bizarre post he is said to have written: "If you are at a dead end, please consult me."
Prosecutors pressed charges after five months of psychiatric examination showed Shiraishi could be held criminally responsible.
Officers were investigating the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman when they say they made the grisly discovery of body parts at his home.
It is believed the severed flesh - found covered with cat litter in a suspected bid to hide evidence - belonged to eight women and one man.
They included at least two heads and 240 bone parts stored in containers, according to horrified police officers.
Authorities made the grisly discovery after investigating the disappearance of a woman who was allegedly last seen walking with Shiraishi on October 21
The woman, who has since been identified as one of the nine victims, was allegedly spotted with Shiraishi near his apartment in the Japanese city of Zama, south of Tokyo.
A number of neighbours have since told reporters the apartment had an “odd smell” coming from it.
One resident told the Japan Times: “I thought it smelled like sewage. It was something I never smelled before.”
Another neighbour claimed he’d noticed a “nasty smell” coming from the apartment from as early as August.
A saw was also found in the room, along with the butchered bodies.
Numerous reports claim Shiraishi and the 23-year-old woman met on a website for people with suicidal feelings.
The woman is said to have posted she was “looking for someone to commit suicide with me”.
The victim’s brother, who reported her disappearance on October 24 after not hearing from her for a few days, discovered she had been talking to the suspect on Twitter.
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He alerted the police which led them to the Zama apartment block near Japan's capital city.
Police found two severed heads in cool boxes covered with cat litter near the front door of the flat yesterday, according to Jiji Press.
As they continued their investigations they found body parts belonging to seven more bodies.
Cops then started the exhaustive process of DNA testing in an effort to identify the victims.
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