Between August and October 2017, Takahiro Shiraishi killed nine people, eight women and one man, most of whom had expressed suicidal thoughts on the internet.
Tea Crime Documentary / YouTubeThe image of Takahiro Shiraishi released to the public following his arrest.
In the digital age, connecting with like-minded individuals across the globe has never been easier. While this interconnectedness has fueled innovation, it has also given rise to a new breed of predator — one that lurks behind screens, exploiting the very networks designed to bring people together. One such predator was Takahiro Shiraishi, a serial killer from Japan known as the “Twitter Killer.”
Between August and October 2017, Shiraishi, a young man from Zama, Japan, used social media to lure vulnerable people struggling with suicidal ideation to his apartment.
There, he would murder, sexually assault, and dismember them. His killing spree came to an end on Halloween, when a family member of one of his victims discovered messages that Shiraishi had sent to his sister. The police descended upon Shiraishi’s home and found a “house of horrors” filled with his victims’ dismembered bodies.
Today, Takahiro Shiraishi’s crimes serve as a reminder of the dark reality that often lurks behind anonymous screens.
Who Is Takahiro Shiraishi?
Takahiro Shiraishi was born on October 9, 1990, in Zama, Japan. His childhood was normal by all accounts, with friends and acquaintances of his describing him as a “quiet child who was able to socialize with neighbors,” according to Radio France Internationale.
He was an average student who enjoyed sports, particularly baseball, and socialized with his friends. The only odd thing about Shiraishi, in retrospect, was his rough-housing. According to a fellow pupil, Shiraishi would play a “choking” game with his friends that involved strangling each other. On one occasion, Shiraishi even passed out.
Takahiro ShiraishiA photo from Takahiro Shiraishi’s social media.
After graduating high school in 2009, Shiraishi found work at a supermarket. But two years later, he began to work in Tokyo’s thriving sex industry. As a scout for sex parlors in Kabukicho, the city’s largest red-light district, Shiraishi tried to lure young women to work as sex workers in brothels and bars.
However, Shiraishi quickly gained a reputation as being a “creepy scout,” and in February 2017, he was arrested for trying to recruit a young women to work for a sex shop, with the knowledge that she would be illegally forced to work as a sex worker.
That summer, Takahiro Shiraishi told his father: “I don’t know why I’m alive.” He moved into an apartment in Zama and, seemingly bitter about his arrest and depressed about the state of his life, began down a dark path that would lead to him becoming the “Twitter Killer.”
Social Media, Suicide Pacts, And Murder
Twitter/XTakahiro Shiraishi’s Twitter page.
Not long after moving back to Zama, Takahiro Shiraishi created several social media accounts, including one with a handle that roughly translates to “Hangman.”
Under this handle, Shiraishi communicated with dozens of people online who were struggling with suicidal thoughts. At first, Shiraishi bonded with others over their shared mental health struggles, but soon his motives took a darker turn. During his trial, Shiraishi claimed that his motives were initially financial, and that he sought to seduce women and convince them to give him money.
One woman did — 21-year-old Mizuki Miura. Shiraishi claimed that he feared that she would ask him to repay the money, and that if he declined, that she would inform the police. Because of his recent arrest, Shiraishi stated that he felt he had no choice but to murder her.
“I had a hard time making up my mind to do it, but I had done illegal things on a daily basis as part of my work as a scout and had internalized the idea that ‘It’s only a problem if you get caught,'” Shiraishi later stated during his murder trial.
According to the Asahi Shimbun, Shiraishi choked Miura, raped her, and killed her in August 2017. According to the prosecution at his trial, he then realized that he could make money without working, and satisfy his sexual desires, by continuing to prey on suicidal women online.
Fair UseThe apartment where the killings took place in Zama, Japan
From that point on, Takahiro Shiraishi’s killing spree quickly escalated. He killed eight more people, including a male friend of Miura’s who came looking for her. To cover up his crimes, he dismembered his victims, stuffed their remains in boxes, and covered them with cat litter.
All of his victims had defensive wounds, proving that they had fought back during the attacks.
A Serial Killer Admits To His Grisly Crimes
Kyodo NewsA list of the nine victims of Takahiro Shiraishi.
In October 2017, Takahiro Shiraishi’s murder spree came to an end. The brother of Aiko Tamura, his final victim, became concerned about her whereabouts after she vanished on Oct. 21. He logged into her Twitter account, and came across disturbing messages she’d exchanged with Shiraishi.
He alerted the police to what he had found and, on Oct. 31, 2017, police went to Shiraishi’s apartment to ask questions about the missing woman.
There, they found the remains of eight women and one man — all dismembered and stored in cold-storage containers and tool boxes. Police also found knives, a saw, woodworking tools, and ropes.
The jig was up, and the so-called “Twitter Killer” admitted to all of his brutal crimes outright. According to reporting from Japanese media at the time, Shiraishi admitted that he’d killed many of his victims “as soon as he met them,” then dismembered the bodies.
With ample evidence against him, Takahiro Shiraishi was arrested and charged with the murders of nine people, eight women and one man, between the ages of 15 and 26.
The Fate Of Takahiro Shiraishi, The Twitter Killer
YouTubeA police officer stands guard in front of Takahiro Shiraishi’s home.
The crimes of Takahiro Shiraishi were truly an open and closed case. After his arrest, Shiraishi admitted to every grisly detail of his murders. Though his defense team tried to argue that his victims had wanted to die, and that Shiraishi was thus guilty of “murder by consent,” Shiraishi stated that: “Not a single one of my victims consented.”
On October 1, 2020, Shiraishi pled guilty to nine murders. Two months later, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. His sentence was finalized in January 2021, and he currently awaits execution.
The judge in his case stated that Shiraishi was “cunning and cruel” and “fully responsible” for his actions.
“None of the nine victims consented to be killed, including silent consent,” the judge stated. “It is extremely grave that the lives of nine young people were taken away. The dignity of the victims was trampled upon.”
Tea Crime Documentary / YouTubeTakahiro Shiraishi before and after his arrest in 2017.
Indeed, Takahiro Shiraishi expressed little regret for his actions. When asked if he felt any remorse for his crimes, Shiraishi demurred, saying: “If they hadn’t caught me, I would regret nothing.”
Shiraishi, who once called himself the “Hangman” will be hanged to death. In Japan, death row prisoners are not told when they will die until the date of their execution.
After reading about Takahiro Shiraishi, dive into the story of Issei Sagawa, the Japanese exchange student who murdered and cannibalized his friend — and got away with it. Then, read about the “Monster With 21 Faces,” a mysterious Japanese terrorist organization that resorted to kidnapping and extortion to cripple the country’s candy industry.
