Japan has executed the "Twitter Killer" who was guilty of murdering nine people, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media.

Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the “Twitter killer,” was sentenced to death in 2020 for the 2017 killings of the nine victims, whom he also dismembered in his apartment near Tokyo, as reported by Sky News.

His execution was the first use of capital punishment in the country in nearly three years, carried out as calls grow to abolish the measure in Japan since the acquittal of the world’s longest-serving death-row inmate, Iwao Hakamada, last year.

Shiraishi’s chilling case shocked the nation and reignited debate about Japan’s death penalty.

Eight of Shiraishi’s victims were women, including teenagers, who he killed after raping them.

He also killed a boyfriend of one of the women to silence him. Police arrested him in 2017 after finding the bodies of eight females and one male in cold-storage cases in his apartment, per AP.

Investigators said Shiraishi approached the victims via Twitter, offering to assist them with their suicidal wishes, under the name “Hanging Pro.”

On Twitter, his profile featured a manga cartoon drawing showing a man whose neck and wrist are scarred, wearing a rope around his neck. The profile bio described his expertise in hanging and his Twitter handle was “@hangingpro.”

“I want to help people who are really in pain. Please DM me anytime,” it read. “There must be many people in society who are suffering after attempting suicides, though their cases are not reported in the news. I want to help such people.”

He also worked to ensure his victims severed ties with friends and family members in advance of meeting them. “It is not good to tell friends, family members and social networking sites that you are going to die before committing suicide,” he wrote in one post.

Shiraishi styled himself as a valiant helper, providing a way out for those with suicidal thoughts or those who had attempted suicide and failed.

In reality, he killed the three teenage girls and five women after r*ping them, and murdered the boyfriend of one of the women to keep him quiet.

Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, who authorised Shiraishi’s hanging, said he made the decision after careful examination, taking into account the convict’s “extremely selfish” motive for crimes that “caused great shock and unrest to society,” per the Daily Mail.

“It is not appropriate to abolish the death penalty while these violent crimes are still being committed,” Mr Suzuki said. He added, “I believe it is not appropriate to abolish execution,” noting that there is growing concern about serious crime in Japan.

Shiraishi was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in secrecy, with nothing disclosed until the execution was done.

“The case caused extremely serious outcomes and dealt a major shockwave and unease to society,” Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki told an emergency news conference.

He confirmed he signed the execution earlier in the week but did not witness Shiraishi’s hanging.

Executions in Japan are carried out in secrecy, where prisoners are not even informed of their fate until the morning of their hanging.

Since 2007, Japan has begun disclosing the names of those executed and some details of their crimes, but disclosures remain limited.

Japan and the US are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations (G7) that retain capital punishment.

The execution takes place on a bright red square in front of a viewing platform separated by a large glass window and bright blue curtains.

Prisoners pass by a small gold statue of Kannon, a Buddhist bodhisattva associated with compassion, as they enter.

Witnesses have described the horror of watching officials pull levers to drop the prisoner, blindfolded and hooded, through the floor of the execution room, where medics confirm the death and wipe the lifeless body down.

Rare notes from inside confirm prisoners are often told only an hour before they are due to take the stage, a practice the UN Committee against Torture claims adds additional stress for families.

Japan now has 105 people on death row, including 49 seeking retrials, according to Suzuki.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

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A convicted double murderer in Japan has died after choking on her dinner while eating in her cell on death row.

Miyuki Ueta, 49, was charged with the 2009 murders of two men, and her death sentence was finalized in 2017. She had initially been arrested for defrauding a woman of 1.26 million yen, but investigations into Ueta found that the men she had dated had died under suspicious circumstances.

As reported by Japan Times, Ueta was found guilty of murdering 47-year-old Kazumi Yabe in April 2009 and 57-year-old Maruyama in October of the same year, with her also being suspected in the deaths of four other men.

The 49-year-old drugged both of her victims, who were her former lovers, with sleeping pills before drowning them in the sea.

It is reported that Ueta owed both of the victims money, and the courts found that the murders took place in order for her to get out of paying the debt.

As confirmed by Japanese news outlet NHK, the Justice Ministry revealed that Ueta passed away on Saturday (January 14) after choking on a meal.

Staff were alerted to the situation around 4:20 PM and attempted to remove the food blocking her airways, but at 6:55 PM she was confirmed dead.

The report also reveals that a similar situation occurred on January 10 after Ueta was found choking on her lunch, but the situation was resolved and nothing strange was reported.

As stated by multiple sources, Japan is one of 55 countries that still use capital punishment, but the choice to retain the same execution method of hanging since 1873 raises concerns from human rights groups.

Amnesty International claims that those on death row in the country can be executed with only a few hours notice and the family members are not informed until after.

Other issues include the length of time prisoners can be left on death row. Iwao Hakamada is the longest-serving death row inmate in the world after being convicted in 1968 (46 years ago). Amnesty claims the trial was "unfair" and that one judge even claimed that Hakamada was innocent.

The 48-year-old son of Ueta's second victim, Maruyama, said: "It's been 14 years since my father died, and I'm surprised that a death row inmate died in this way.

"Since then, I think it's been taking too long without being executed. Every day I put my hands on my father at the Buddhist altar in my house, and tonight I'd like to put my hands together."

Following Ueta's death, Japan currently has 105 prisoners on death row.

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A prisoner has been exonerated after a judge ruled that he was innocent of his murder charges after spending 48 years behind bars.

Glynn Simmons, a 71-year-old Oklahoma man, was released in July following the revelation that crucial evidence had not been disclosed to his defense lawyers, per the New York Post.

Oklahoma County District Judge Amy Palumbo, who presided over the case, declared Simmons innocent on Wednesday, stating: “This court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the offense for which Mr. Simmons was convicted, sentenced and imprisoned… was not committed by Mr. Simmons.”

Simmons, convicted in 1975 for the murder of Carolyn Sue Rogers, served an astonishing 48 years, one month, and 18 days in prison, making him the longest-imprisoned inmate to be exonerated in U.S. history, as reported by the National Registry of Exonerations.

Outside the courthouse, Simmons raised his arms in victory, expressing his vindication to reporters. "It’s a lesson in resilience and tenacity," Simmons remarked. "Don’t let nobody tell you that it (exoneration) can’t happen, because it really can."

Throughout the trial and imprisonment, Simmons consistently maintained his innocence, asserting that he was in Louisiana at the time of Rogers' murder in Edmond.

Both Simmons and co-defendant Don Roberts were initially sentenced to death in 1975, a punishment later reduced to life in prison in 1977 following Supreme Court rulings on capital punishment. While Roberts was released on parole in 2008, Simmons remained incarcerated.

In July, Judge Palumbo ordered a new trial for Simmons after District Attorney Vicki Behenna disclosed that prosecutors had withheld crucial evidence, including a police report suggesting eyewitnesses may have identified other suspects. In September, Behenna announced that there was no physical evidence linking Simmons to the crime scene, and he would not be retried.

Despite his newfound freedom, Simmons is currently relying on donations from a GoFundMe campaign, according to defense attorney Joe Norwood.

Norwood noted that Simmons is eligible for up to $175,000 in compensation from the state for wrongful conviction and may pursue a federal lawsuit against Oklahoma City and authorities involved in his arrest and conviction.

However, any potential compensation is likely years away, Norwood cautioned, emphasizing the immediate need for Simmons to sustain himself.

At the time of writing, the fundraising page has gained over $80,000.

On the page Simmons outlined his intentions for the money: "I've got nothing and I am grateful for the support of relatives as I wait for the state of Oklahoma to compensate me for wrongly sending me to death row, where I was for 2.5 years.

"When that death penalty law was ruled unconstitutional, they changed my sentence to life. All for something I did not do. I'm going to use these funds to live!

"I want to get my own place to live, clothes, furniture, transportation, food, plus medical needs, because I am currently undergoing chemotherapy for liver cancer. I'm 70 years old. I plan to use my remaining time to help others who are still stuck where I was. We need to fix this system so that what happened to me will never happen to anyone else, ever again!"

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The last words of a death row inmate who made a 'mistake' with his last meal before his execution have been revealed.

As previously reported, 68-year-old Wesley Ira Purkey had an "excruciating" execution in July 2020 after spending 16 years on death row.

He had been convicted of kidnapping, raping, and then murdering 16-year-old schoolgirl Jennifer Long in 1998.

The teenage student was last seen at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 22, 1998, and the alarm was raised after she failed to attend lessons.

Purkey reportedly lured the girl into his pick-up truck outside a grocery store before driving her to his home, where he raped and fatally stabbed her.

Wesley Ira Purkey. Credit: Kansas Department of Corrections

Long's body was dismembered with a chainsaw and partially burned in a fireplace before Purkey buried her remains in a septic pond in Clearwater, Kansas. Jennifer's remains have never been found, per the Death Penalty Information Center.

Purkey then beat 80-year-old polio sufferer Mary Bales to death with a claw hammer. He had been to Mary's home to fix a kitchen tap when he carried out the murder, and was arrested after neighbors saw him attempting to burn Mary's body.

A death row inmate had an "excruciating" execution after making a mistake with his last meal, according to an autopsy report.

Wesley Ira Purkey was 68 years old when he died by lethal injection after he was placed on death row in 2004 for kidnapping, raping, and then murdering 16-year-old schoolgirl Jennifer Long in 1998.

He was sentenced to death in January 2004 and would remain on death row until July 16, 2020, when he was executed using the lethal injection.

When his execution date rolled around, Purkey - who was said to be suffering from dementia - had reportedly requested pecan pie as his last meal, and asked to save it for later.

However, he seemingly did not realize that there would not be a "later" for him.

This would soon become the least of his concerns, as Purkey's autopsy report detailed his execution, showing he likely died an "excruciating" death.

Purkey was executed by lethal injection. Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein / Getty

Purkey's autopsy revealed that he suffered "severe bilateral acute pulmonary oedema" and "frothy pulmonary oedema in trachea and main stem bronchi".

This essentially meant that fluid quickly entered his lungs and trachea, causing "a near-drowning" sensation which a medical expert described as "among the most excruciating feelings known to man".

Dr Gail Van Norman, a Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, said the filling of Purkey's lungs could only have happened while he was still alive. "It is a virtual medical certainty, that most, if not all, prisoners will experience excruciating suffering, including sensations of drowning and suffocation from [the lethal injection drug] pentobarbital."

Purkey's final words before he was executed at an Indiana prison reportedly were: "I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer's family.

"I am deeply sorry. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. This sanitized murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever."

The New York Times reported that Jennifer's father and stepmother told reporters that Purkey's execution was long overdue.

William Long, Jennifer's father, stated: "He needed to take his last breath, he took my daughter's last breath."

Featured image credit: Kansas Department of Corrections