Suspected serial killer served arrest warrant for murder

Takahiro Shiraishi, who was first arrested on Oct. 31 on suspicion of disposing of one of the nine bodies, was served the warrant over the murder of Aiko Tamura, 23, from the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji, at his apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, around Oct 23.

He is suspected of choking Tamura until she fell unconscious and hanging her with a rope from a height of over 2 meters. Part of her body, an ID card and what appeared to be her bag were found in his apartment, according to investigative sources.

Shiraishi admitted to the charge, as he was quoted by the police as saying, "It is true that I did it alone. After talking about personal matters, I took the chance to kill her when she was off guard."

But he declined to reveal his motive for killing her, the police added.

Shiraishi is expected to be served further arrest warrants for murder as the investigation progresses. He has confessed to killing eight women and one man, aged between 15 and 26, whose bodies were discovered inside cooling boxes in his apartment.

The body parts showed signs of damage and some portions had been reduced to bone.

The suspect has admitted to inviting the victims, who had posted suicidal wishes on Twitter, to his apartment, saying he would help them die. He has also confessed to rendering them unconscious and hanging them with a rope.

The unemployed Shiraishi said earlier theft was one motive, and also admitted that he had lured some of the women with the intent to rape them.

Analysis of his smartphone showed that Shiraishi began contacting Tamura on Sept. 20, sending a message to the victim, who had tweeted that she was looking for someone to die with.

The police suspect Shiraishi murdered Tamura rather than aiding her suicide or being commissioned to kill her as he said the victim resisted when he assaulted her.

Security cameras captured Tamura together with Shiraishi at stations in Hachioji and near the murder site on Oct 23.

Source: ANNnewsCH