A man in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, arrested in connection with the deaths of nine people whose dismembered bodies were found in his apartment allegedly lured his victims, who reportedly posted messages on Twitter that they wanted to commit suicide, by telling them that he would help them kill themselves or they would die together. The 27-year-old suspect is quoted as telling the police that he killed the victims — believed to include teenage girls and to have come from various areas including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Gunma and Fukushima, all of whom he had never met before — in the course of just over two months starting in late August.

The entire picture of the gruesome crimes may have to wait until further investigations and charges. Media reports indicate the suspect gained the victims' trust by claiming, falsely, that he wanted to commit suicide as well and invited them inside the apartment to rob, molest and kill them. He is believed to have hunted his prospective victims by searching social media for suicidal postings and by setting account names for himself hinting of his own suicidal intent.

Social networking sites such as Twitter are said to be awash with messages suggesting suicidal intent, postings that solicit others who would be willing to commit suicide together, or exchanges of information about methods of suicide. These messages are posted anonymously through accounts set up using pseudonyms, but the users who exchange messages can also communicate directly with each other. Crimes that take advantage of the convenience of SNS communication are nothing new, and outright regulation of these exchanges would be difficult. But something should be done to crack down on the malicious intent that lurks in cybersphere.