A former Aum Shinrikyo follower who has confessed to involvement in the murders of an anti-Aum lawyer and his family gave a detailed account June 20 of how he kept in touch with both Aum and the police after leaving the cult.
Kazuaki Okazaki, 36, was cross-examined as a prosecution witness by defense lawyers for Aum founder Shoko Asahara at the Tokyo District Court. Asahara, 42, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, often disturbed the day's testimony by raising his voice as he sat in the defendant's seat.
Okazaki fled Aum a few months after the November 1989 murders of Yokohama lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, his wife, and their baby son. Okazaki and five other cultists allegedly killed the family on Asahara's orders.