Japan "Twitter Killer" Pleads Guilty, Lawyers Say Killed All 9 People With "Consent"
A Japanese man has pleaded guilty to murdering nine people after contacting them on Twitter.?
Dubbed the "Twitter killer", Takahiro Shiraishi was arrested in 2017 after body parts were found in his flat.
Shiraishi, who is accused of dismembering his victims and storing body parts in coolboxes after murdering them?told a court in Tokyo that the allegations against him "are all correct".
"Gave consent to be killed"
But his lawyers argue that his charges should be reduced because his victims apparently --who had expressed suicidal thoughts-- gave consent to be killed??
If convicted of murder, Shiraishi faces the death penalty, which is carried out by hanging in Japan.
The court case has attracted wide interest, with more than 600 people lining up for 13 public gallery seats to watch the first hearing on Wednesday, reported public broadcaster NHK.
Shiraishi is also facing rape charges, according to media reports by public broadcaster NHK.?
What happened?
Shiraishi is accused of using Twitter to contact victims aged between 15 and 26 who posted online about taking their own lives, telling them he could help them in their plans -- or in some cases claimed he would kill himself alongside them.?
Eight of his victims were women, one of them aged 15.??
His Twitter profile read: "I want to help people who are really in pain. Please DM [direct message] me anytime.??
Officers visited Shiraishi's flat in the Japanese city of Zama, near Tokyo, where they found dismembered body parts.??
What impact have the killings had?
The serial killings have stunned Japan. When they were exposed in 2017 it triggered a new debate about websites on which suicide is discussed. At the time the government indicated it may introduce new regulations.
Japan has long battled one of the highest suicide rates in the industrialised world although figures have dropped since preventative measures were introduced more than a decade ago.
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