Death penalty ruling to be finalized for Japan's "Twitter killer"

A death penalty ruling given to the man dubbed Japan's "Twitter killer" is set to be finalized after he withdrew an appeal filed by his lawyers in the case related to the 2017 serial murders of nine people, a court said Wednesday.The defense team of defendant Takahiro Shiraishi, 30, appealed the death sentence on Friday. But he canceled the procedure on Monday, according to the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court, which set an appeal deadline for Jan. 4.During his trial, Shiraishi, who lured his victims to his home after they expressed suicidal thoughts on social media, said he wou…READ FULL ARTICLE