'Twitter killer' Sentenced to Death
Hi!
Here is your weekly dose of “Everything Strange,” literally a list of everything strange happening around us. So let’s start with
Today's Strange History (December 23, 2020)
Artist: Exactly 132 years ago today in 1888 Vincent van Gogh cut off his left ear with a razor, after an argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, and sent it to a prostitute for safe keeping.
Crime Family: In 1921, crime boss of the Gambino crime family - Carlo Gambino entered the United States as an illegal immigrant on the SS Vincenzo Florio.
Dictator: Today in 1948, Japanese dictator and general of the Imperial Japanese Army Hideki Tojo was executed by hanging. Before his execution, he gave his military ribbons to one of his guards. They are on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. In his final statement, he apologised for the atrocities committed by the Japanese military and urged the American military to show compassion toward the Japanese people, who had suffered devastating air attacks and the two atomic bombings. He recognised the same in his poems, which were discovered much later.
Survival: In 1952, Alain Bombard arrived in Barbados after 65 days at sea proving his theory that a shipwrecked person could survive with almost no provisions, despite having lost 25 kg (65 lbs) in weight.
Kidney: 68 years ago, today in 1954 the first human kidney transplant was performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Escape: In 1987, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for attempted assassination of US President Gerald Ford, escaped from Alderson Prison. She was the member of the cult group - Manson Family.
Crime Boss: Today in 1994, fearing arrest by the FBI, Whitey Bulger fled Boston, and successfully escaped capture from law enforcement for the next 16 years.
First: In 2002, an MQ-1 Predator was shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, making it the first time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat.
What is today?
Today i.e. 23rd December is
👪 Roots Day
Strange Case of the day: 'Twitter killer' Takahiro Shiraishi Sentenced to Death
In my Nov 4 newsletter, I wrote about Who is Takahiro Shiraishi aka the 'Twitter Killer' and what he did. You can click here to read that. Recently he has been sentenced to death. Let's look at what happened.
Court
He was arrested in 2017 after body parts were found in his flat.
This year on October 1, Shiraishi pleaded guilty to 9 murders.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty.
His lawyers argued he was guilty of the lesser charge of "murder with consent", claiming his victims had given their permission to be killed.
More than 400 people turned up to watch the verdict, despite the court only having 16 seats available for the public.
Verdict
Surprisingly, Shiraishi disputed his own defence team's version of events and said he killed without victim's consent.
Judge Naokuni Yano delivered the verdict of death penalty.
Judge called the crimes "cunning and cruel", and found the defendant "fully responsible" for his actions.
"None of the nine victims consented to be killed, including silent consent" said the judge.
Judge added, "It is extremely grave that the lives of nine young people were taken away. The dignity of the victims was trampled upon."
Future
Shiraishi told the court last month that he did not plan to appeal against his sentence if found guilty.
And it seems like he is following that, as after the verdict he said he wouldn't appeal.
However, he made a surprising request - he wants to get married before his demise.
"Now, I want to meet an ordinary girl," he said. "I want to get married. I want to find a marriage partner while I am in jail."
The death penalty is carried out by hanging in Japan.
Currently, more than 100 prisoners are on death row.
Death row inmates are not told when they will be put to death until the day of their execution.
Usually, years pass between sentencing and execution.
So will end today’s strangeness here. As always, please give me feedback. What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Let me know! Just tweet me at @StrangeButTrue_
Thanks for reading! Everything I write here is completely for free, just out of my love for researching history, crime, criminals & the paranormal. It would mean a lot to me if you could share this with 1 of your friends; a Facebook or Whatsapp share works too. Bye, talk to you on Saturday.
Much love and Stay Strange,
Stranger