2 in Subway Attack Sentenced to Death

A court sentenced two former leaders of a doomsday cult to death for spraying nerve gas in a deadly 1995 attack in a Tokyo subway. Toru Toyoda, 32, and Kenichi Hirose, 36, were accused of taking a direct role in the morning rush-hour assault, which killed 12 people and sickened thousands of others, the Tokyo District Court said. The two were members of the Aum Supreme Truth cult. The cult’s former guru, Shoko Asahara, is on trial for masterminding the subway attack and other crimes. The pair admitted their crimes but argued that they had been brainwashed by Asahara, Kyodo News Service reported.