Satoru Hashimoto

Police made the decision after Hashimoto, 37, emerged as the prime suspect. Investigators strongly suspect that he was the gunman who shot Kunimatsu three times in the stomach outside the victim's home in Tokyo's Arakawa Ward on March 30, 1995.

Kunimatsu, who was in charge of the investigation into Aum in the days after the Tokyo subway sarin attack, survived the shooting.

Hashimoto was sentenced to death in July 2000 for his role in the murders of a Yokohama lawyer, the attorney's wife and infant son. He is appealing the sentence to the Supreme Court.

Police hope he will provide them with information that will confirm their suspicions that Aum founder Shoko Asahara, 49, and senior cultist Kiyohide Hayakawa, 54, were involved in the shooting.

Four Aum figures, including an ex-police officer, were arrested July 7 in connection with the shooting.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 17, 2004
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