Chemist gets death sentence over gas attack

A CHEMIST was convicted and sentenced to death yesterday for leading efforts by a doomsday cult to develop the nerve gas used in a 1995 attack on the Tokyo subways that killed 12 people, a court official said.

Masami Tsuchiya, 39, was the 11th member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult to be sentenced to death for the attack.

Prosecutors said Tsuchiya's responsibility in the killings was second only to that of the group's guru, Shoko Asahara.