Land of the rising...suicide rate

My favorite country when it comes to bizarre news strikes again, this time with a lurid tale of murder and internet suicide pacts.

A Japanese man was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing three people he met through an Internet site for group suicides in 2005, a local court spokeswoman said.

The unemployed man, Hiroshi Maeue, 38, invited a 14-year-old boy out to commit suicide together using charcoal fumes, but then suffocated him to death, Kyodo news agency said.

Maeue, killed two others -- a 25-year-old woman and a 21-year-old male college student -- by similar means and abandoned their bodies, Kyodo said.

As far as I can tell, there was no bizarre sex involved, which is a little disappointing for a story about Japan, but it does talk about the popularity of internet suicide sites:

An increasing number of suicide Web sites have cropped up in recent years in Japan, where the suicide rate is one of the highest among industrialized countries.

Experts say the sites attract those who are afraid to die alone, and police say the number of people who died in group suicide pacts after meeting online totaled 56 in 2006, down from a record 91 in 2005.

Well, at least the idea doesn't seem to be growing in popularity.

I'm going to make one of my solemn blog promises here: At the Brea Canyon Monument, I promise not to make any suicide pacts with any of my five or so readers. And murdering people is also right out.*

*Murder promise may not apply to hoboes.