Japan’s ‘Twitter killer’ drops death sentence appeal

Gulf Today Report

A court here in Tokyo has revealed that a Japanese man, 30, sentenced to death last week over the murders of nine persons at his apartment in Zama City will not appeal the ruling.

The court official said on Wednesday, the “Twitter killer” has withdrawn an appeal of his guilty verdict and death sentence over the murder of nine people.

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Earlier, his defence team announced that they would appeal the ruling before the deadline of January 4, 2021.

Takahiro Shiraishi “submitted the motion” on Monday to drop the appeal filed by his lawyers, a court spokesman told the media.

However, the court said on Wednesday that the defence team was withdrawing the appeal.

Shiraishi lured people who posted online comments about suicidal thoughts to his home, where he killed and butchered his young victims. All but one of those murdered were women, and they ranged in age from 15 to 26.

During his trial, he did not contest the charges against him although his lawyer attempted to reduce his sentence, arguing the suicidal thoughts expressed by the victims indicated their willingness to die.