A convicted Aum Shinrikyo figure testified in court Thursday that cult founder Shoko Asahara ordered a fellow cultist to kill errant follower Kotaro Ochida in front of the guru and other senior Aum members in January 1994.

Summoned by prosecutors to testify at Asahara's trial session before the Tokyo District Court, Michimaro Maruyama said Asahara ordered another errant cultist, Hideaki Yasuda, to kill Ochida after the two were caught trying to break into a cult building in Kamikuishi, Yamanashi Prefecture. They had attempted to rescue Yasuda's mother, who was being held against her will.

"Asahara ordered Yasuda to continue strangling Ochida after (senior cultist Tomomasa) Nakagawa checked Ochida's pulse and told the guru he was still alive," said Maruyama, 31, who has already been convicted for his role in the killing. Maruyama claimed Asahara threatened to kill Ochida and Yasuda, if Yasuda refused to carry out the murder.

At the end of the morning session, Maruyama said he was shocked that Asahara did not stop Yasuda from killing Ochida. He said he first thought Asahara just wanted to scare the two so they would not do anything wrong again.

Maruyama was sentenced to seven years in prison in July 1996 for his role in Ochida's murder and for cremating the victim in a microwave incinerator hidden in the basement of a cult building. The remains were never found, and the killing only came to light through confessions by arrested cultists.