A former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, who is appealing a death sentence for his role in 11 cases including the confinement and death of a notary clerk, apologized to the clerk's son Monday.
"I am sorry for destroying your treasured family," Tomomasa Nakagawa, 41, was quoted as saying by Minoru Kariya, 44, who visited the former senior cult member at the Tokyo Detention House.
Kariya is the son of Kiyoshi Kariya, then 68, who was abducted and confined by AUM in 1995. During the confinement, he was given anesthesia, which led to his death from heart failure.
In October last year, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Nakagawa to death for his role in the killings of 25 people in cases including the sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway and in Nagano Prefecture, and the abduction and confinement of the elder Kariya.
AUM abducted Kariya, the chief clerk at the Meguro Public Notary Office, on Feb. 28, 1995, on a Tokyo street in order to question him about the whereabouts of his sister, who wanted to leave the cult. After he died, his body was burned in a microwave heating device.
Monday's meeting marked the second time Minoru Kariya has visited AUM defendants who have been jailed over the death of his father, following a meeting with Yoshihiro Inoue.
Nakagawa has appealed the death sentence to the Tokyo High Court, while Inoue, 34, has appealed his death sentence to the Supreme Court.
In principle, Nakagawa is not allowed to meet with anyone except his lawyer, but after learning that Kariya wanted to speak to him, he asked authorities for an exception.
According to Kariya, Nakagawa had his eyes downcast throughout the meeting and when asked about how Kiyoshi Kariya died, Nakagawa related how he administered the anesthetic drug, went away, and when he returned, the man was dead.
Kariya quoted Nakagawa as saying, "Moving away (from Kariya) was careless of me, and I should not have done that." Nakagawa repeatedly bowed his head, according to Kariya.
"I was irked at the way people's lives were disregarded, but I decided to put precedence (on efforts) to drawing out the truth (from them) and just let out my emotions later on," he said.
Kariya said he intends to continue meeting AUM members in detention.
AUM renamed itself Aleph in 2000.