This article is on the murder of a lawyer, Tsutsumi Sakamoto, and his family. Trials of a group of Aum Shinrikyo members mentioned below ruled them guilty in executing the murder. The article describes how precisely they were murdered and by whom.

On October 31, 1989, Tsutsumi Sakamoto, a lawyer working against Aum Shinrikyo, successfully persuaded Aum leader Shoko Asahara to submit to a blood test to test for the "special power" that the leader claimed was present throughout his body. He found no sign of anything unusual. To prevent the disclosure of this outcome, Aum Members planned to kidnap Sakamoto from the underground (subway) and inject him with a drug. Such is the popular theory. The murder was executed as follows:

On November 3, 1989, several Aum Shinrikyo members drove to Yokohama. They included Hideo Murai , the chief scientist, and Satoro Hashimoto , a martial arts master, as well as Tomomasa Nakagawa , carrying a pouch of fourteen syringes and a supply of potassium chloride. However, they found no sign of Sakamoto at the train station.

At 3 A.M., the men broke into the apartment through an unlocked door, first finding the Sakamoto's crying infant, 14-month old Tatsuhiko Sakamoto. The boy was injected with a deadly drug and his face was covered with a cloth. The men then surprised Tsutsumi and wife, Satoko Sakamoto, in bed. Tsutsumi was struck on the head with a hammer, his screaming wife bashed into submission. The two were injected with the drugs, but Tsutsumi still struggled. The perpetrators finally subdued the lawyer, strangling him. After the family was dead, their bodies were placed in metal drums and hidden in rural areas. Their bed-sheets were burned and the tools were dropped in the ocean. The victims' teeth were smashed to pieces to frustrate identification.

Background information on Sakamoto's legal practice contradicts the 'blood test' theory. Before organizing a legal campaign to sue Aum Shinrikyo, Sakamoto represented the relatives of Unification Church members in lawsuits against that religious group. Circumstances of this previous case were similar: relatives of people who joined the Unification Church demanded financial compensations for assets transferred by the relatives to the group and moral damages inflicted by the worsening relationships. By organizing a public relations campaign, Sakamoto apparently sought to demonstrate that Aum members, similar to members of the UC, did not join the group voluntarily, but were lured by deception and are probably held against their wills by threats of revenge. This could influence the courts to award the hefty sums to the relatives of Aum members, which in turn could make the group bankrupt. Previously Sakamoto used this tactic against Unification Church and it worked.

In 1988, when the name Aum Shinrikyo meant nothing to the majority of Japanese and public tensions related to its activities were almost non-existent, Sakamoto initiated the establishment of Aum Shinrikyo Hidai Taisaku Bengodan ("Coalition of help to those affected by Aum Shinrikyo"), later renamed to Aum Shinrikyo Hidaisha-no-kai or "Aum Shinrikyo Victims Association". The blood test, therefore posed little threat to Aum, which is probably why Asahara so readily accepted the offer.

According to the defense team of Shoko Asahara, Aum members mentioned above conspired to commit this murder, hiding the fact from Asahara. The jury disagreed and ruled him guilty. The verdict is currently in the process of appeal.

Aleph, a successor group to Aum Shinrikyo, condemned the above described atrocities in 1999 and announced a change of its policies, including establishment of a special compensations fund. Members involved in incidents such as Sakamoto family murder are not permitted to join the new organization Aleph and are referred to as "ex-members" by the group.

See also: Soka Gakkai Victims Association

External link

• Crime Library article on Aum Shinrikyo