Ikuo Hayashi is a former Aum Shinrikyo member convicted for his participation in the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.
13 Facts About Ikuo Hayashi
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Himself the son of a doctor, Ikuo Hayashi graduated from Keio University, one of Tokyo's top universities.
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Ikuo Hayashi was a heart and artery specialist at Keio University Hospital, which he left to become head of Circulatory Medicine at the National Sanitorium Hospital in Tokai, Ibaraki.
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Somewhere along the line Ikuo Hayashi became disillusioned and decided to look beyond conventional medicine.
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In 1990 Ikuo Hayashi resigned his job and left his family to join Aum and become a renunciate.
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Besides involvement in Tokyo subway sarin gas attack and LSD drug affair, Ikuo Hayashi was convicted in a number of other crimes.
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Previously Ikuo Hayashi helped another Aum member to recover from a forced drug treatment administered by the follower's father.
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Ikuo Hayashi was about to puncture the sarin packs but had second thoughts due to seeing dozens of commuters and fearing that releasing the sarin would endanger their lives, he thought of aborting the attack.
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Ikuo Hayashi punctured only one bag of sarin at the next stop, Shin-Ochanomizu Station in the central business district.
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Sometime after the news of the attack gained worldwide attention, Ikuo Hayashi later surrendered to the Japan police wherein he provided details of the attack and its perpetrators to investigators and included additional information about Aum activities post-attack.
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Ikuo Hayashi was quoted as saying that he regrets that "while he became a doctor to help, he used his skills to inflict sufferings".
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Ikuo Hayashi apologized to the victims and said that he views the death penalty as an appropriate punishment for his deeds.
13.
Ikuo Hayashi was given a life sentence with a possibility of parole in 20 years, while Niimi was sentenced to death.