KÅichi Kitamura (terrorist)

is a Japanese convicted domestic terrorist and member of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo. In 1995, he served as getaway driver for one of the perpetrators of the Tokyo subway sarin attack, Kenichi Hirose. He was 27 years old when the attack was committed. He is currently serving a life sentence for the attack and other offenses.
Crimes and conviction
Kitamura is a native of Aichi Prefecture and joined Aum Shinrikyo in the late 1980s after reading a book written by leader Shoko Asahara.
During the Tokyo subway sarin attack he drove Kenichi Hirose to the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line where Hirose boarded a train and punctured two bags of liquid sarin, causing the death of one person. The attack would kill 13 people and injure more than 5,300.<ref name="japantimes"/> Kitamura also aided cult fugitive Takeshi Matsumoto hide from justice between the months of March and April of 1995 for the crime of kidnapping.<ref name"japantimes"/><ref name"japantimes2"/>
He remained as a fugitive until November of 1996 when he was finally arrested in Tokorozawa, Saitama.<ref name"japantimes"/> In his first trial in May 1997 he admitted to the crimes and reportedly renounced to the cult although he maintained the belief that Asahara had superpowers and his lawyer said that he still was under the spell of the cult.<ref name"japantimes"/>
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 1999, with the presiding judge chastising him for playing an "indispensable role" in the attack. The judge also highlighted his self-righteous motive for his crimes and pronounced the sentencing saying that:
After the verdict was read, his lawyer said that Kitamura was still under Asahara's spell and that that made him a victim of the cult as well but also said that the court had dismissed this point adding that he would discuss with him whether to appeal to the higher courts.<ref name="japantimes"/>
In January 2002, the Tokyo High Court upheld his sentence, which he called "too harsh" given his role in the attack. The court refuted his argument and highlighted his lack of remorse as motive for upholding the sentence.<ref name"japantimes2"/><ref name"book"/>

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