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Death sentence for former cult member in Tokyo subway attack

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TOKYO (CNN) -- The Tokyo District Court sentenced a former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo or Cult of Supreme Truth to death Thursday.

Yasuo Hayashi, 42, is the second former Aum member to be given a death sentence for his alleged roles in the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995. Twelve people were killed and thousands were injured.

Prosecutors say Hayashi punctured three nylon bags filled with liquid sarin in a subway car -- an act that resulted in the deaths of eight people.

Hayashi had been charged with murder, attempted murder and assisting murder in connection with the subway attack as well as a second gassing on a residential neighborhood in Matsumoto, Japan, where seven people died.

Hayashi is one of five former members accused of executing the attack. One was sentenced to death last fall, another to life in prison in 1998, while two others are scheduled to be sentenced next month.

The trial of the man accused of masterminding the 1995 attack, cult founder Shoko Asahara, is not expected to conclude for years.

Hayashi's legal team is expected to appeal his sentence.

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