Japan executes 'Twitter killer' who murdered nine

Takahiro Shiraishi (C) covering his face with his hands as he is transported to the prosecutor's office from a police station in Tokyo. Shiraishi was sentenced to death in 2020 for murdering and dismembering nine people, all women but one, whom he met on a social media platform. [File, AFP]

Japan on Friday executed a man dubbed the "Twitter killer" who murdered and dismembered nine people he met online, in the nation's first enactment of the death penalty since 2022.

Takahiro Shiraishi, 34, was hanged for killing his young victims, all but one of whom were women, after contacting them on the social media platform now called X.