An Aum Shinrikyo member testifying as a witness for cult founder Shoko Asahara's defense said on Friday that the alleged drugging-killing of a Tokyo notary public in 1995 was not done on the orders of the guru, but on a suggestion made by late senior cultist Hideo Murai.

It is the first testimony in Asahara's trial to contradict that he was behind the crime.

Noboru Nakamura, 32, told the Tokyo District Court that Asahara became angry when he was informed that Kiyoshi Kariya, a brother of a follower who was missing at the time, was dead.

But when Nakamura and two senior cultists, Yoshihiro Inoue and Tomomasa Nakagawa, asked who should incinerate Kariya's body, Asahara ordered the three to take care of the job, he said.

Although expressing continued faith in Asahara and his teachings, Nakamura said he was sorry for what he and the cult did to the victims, and added that he was prepared to accept heavy punishment.

However, Nakamura said his testimony was not motivated by his faith in the guru, but by his desire to get the truth out.

Compared with the other crimes Asahara is accused of, "this case is not that significant, so I don't think an attempt to protect him in this case would make a big difference," he said.

Nakamura added that he thought it was wrong for Inoue to say things that would be advantageous to him in his own trial.

Inoue, 29, who left the cult after his arrest, is one of the first cultists who confessed to police about the alleged crimes and about the cult.

Inoue has said that revealing all he knew was the only way he could make amends to the victims and their families.