The Tokyo District Court sentenced Aum Shinrikyo follower Makoto Goto to 10 years in prison Thursday for his involvement in the 1994 lynching of another cultist and the 1994 abduction of an innkeeper in Miyazaki Prefecture.
Goto, 37, was found guilty of conspiring in the January 1994 slaying of Kotaro Ochida, 29, at the cult's compound in Kamikuishiki, Yamanashi Prefecture.
According to the court, Goto and other cultists held Ochida down as the victim was strangled by Hideaki Yasuda, 30, who had been threatened by Aum founder Shoko Asahara into carrying out the slaying. The confessions of other cultists in custody led the court to determine that Asahara ordered the killing.
Yasuda is believed to have been ordered to kill Ochida after other cult members caught him and Ochida trying to rescue Yasuda's mother, who was being held captive by Aum, the court said. "Despite what he did, the defendant has continued to offer unreasonable and unnatural explanations and has shown no feeling of regret throughout his trial," presiding Judge Atsushi Senba said. Goto pleaded not guilty, claiming he did not take part in the killing but was present when Ochida was killed.
In the March 1994 abduction, Goto was suspected of conspiring to kidnap the Miyazaki innkeeper and bring him to a building in Kamikuishiki to force money from him for the cult. Goto claimed he was not involved in the abduction, but witnessed the kidnapping of the innkeeper, who was later freed after reportedly promising to contribute to the cult. The court said senior cultist Yoshihiro Inoue ordered the abduction.
Asahara's trial session Thursday was postponed because he has been suffering a cold and high fever since early this week and has not been able to eat anything, according to the court.