Japan Executes Cult Leader Asahara for Deadly 1995 Sarin Attack
- Doomsday cult killed 13 by placing nerve gas in Tokyo subways
- Leader Shoko Asahara hanged, conviction handed down in 2004
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Japan executed Shoko Asahara, the leader of the doomsday cult responsible for the 1995 sarin-gas attack on Tokyo’s subway that killed 13 people and sickened thousands.
Asahara, 63, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, was put to death Friday along with six other senior members of the cult, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said at a press conference. All death penalties in Japan are carried out by hanging.