Yasuo Hayashi, a key member of the Aum Shinri Kyo cult,...

Yasuo Hayashi, a key member of the Aum Shinri Kyo cult, was sentenced to death by hanging for taking part in the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway. The Tokyo district court judge, Kiyoshi Kimura, said Yasuo Hayashi, 42, deserved the sentence because he released the largest amount of poisonous sarin gas in the attack, which claimed 12 lives and injured thousands. Prosecutors charged that Hayashi was directly responsible for the deaths of eight persons since he carried three plastic bags of the deadly gas onto a packed commuter train. He was the second cult member to receive the death penalty. Last September, the court sentenced Masato Yokoyama, 35, to hang for his part in the attack.