Police release former Aum fugitive Hirata's photo
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday released this photo of Makoto Hirata taken shortly after he turned himself in on Dec 31.
TOKYO —
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday released photos of former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Makoto Hirata, taken shortly after he turned himself in at a police station on Dec 31.
Hirata’s hair was longer than in his photos from the mid-1990s. His eyebrows were thinner, but his major facial features had not significantly changed.
Police are hoping that the photos will encourage people who might have seen or known Hirata to come forward with information about where he was and what he has been doing during his 17 years on the run.
Hirata has so far refused to provide any information about the 17 years, only saying that he did not want to get anyone else into trouble.
Hirata told police he took a bullet train from Shin-Osaka to Shinagawa Station on Dec 31. He went to Ebisu for a little while because the Aum cult used to have a branch there and he told police he wanted to have one last walk around the area as a free man.
Hirata said he first went to a police station in Osaki but found no one on duty at the entrance, so he took the Hibiya subway line to Kasumigaseki Station. When he tried to turn himself in at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police department, a riot police officer thought he was a prankster and told him to go to a local police station 700 meters away.
The National Police Agency said Friday it had instructed all officers to memorize the names and physical features of criminals on the wanted list.
Japan Today
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22 Comments
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0
Serrano
"he wanted to have one last walk around the area as a free man"
Didn't the stupid statute of limitations run out on his crime?
0
paulinusa
He looks like a Japanese version of Charles Manson. Would you let your daughter go out with this guy?
-3
oginome
You were a fugitive for seventeen years. You were part of a murderous cult. You attempted to kill someone. Cooperate with the police, you degenerate.
0
spudmanreincarnated
-2
oginome
Really? Wow, I never would have guessed.
0
Thunderbird
japanese bearded version of Chucky! scary..
1
Jerome_from_Utah
RE: Serrano. I don't think any Statute of Limitations applies to Murder or Accomplice to Murder. Actually, this fellow makes Chucky look handsome. How did he support himself for seventeen years? Hopefully, the Inquiring Minds will find out about that feat.
1
Yardley
He looks dead inside. Serves him right.
0
oginome
He looks dead inside
True. So this is what enlightenment looks like, Aum? I'll pass.
-1
anglootaku
Looks like a former beetle
-1
Disillusioned
Um, yeah, OK! They are too busy remembering bicycle registrations to worry about anyhing else.
2
oberst
Police are hoping that the photos will encourage people who might have seen or known Hirata to come forward with information about where he was and what he has been doing during his 17 years on the run...........................................
..................................
Wait for news from J cops telling us they have been turning this dude away for the past 17 years !
2
oberst
@Ogin, " You were a fugitive for seventeen years. You were part of a murderous cult. You attempted to kill someone. Cooperate with the police, you degenerate."......................................................
he did, he's been trying real hard to turn himself in.
-2
Son_of_Laertes
They have ways of making you talk! I cannot say exactly how long they can legally hold Hirata because his is a special case, but it could be anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks. He won't be getting much sleep from now on. He will talk. That is if he does not die of sleep dep.
3
bicultural
Wow, I certainly wouldn't have recognized him on the street. Let's hope the other two suddenly develop a conscience and turn themselves in.
0
Mirai Hayashi
LOL
1
keika1628
Beatle
-1
multitasker
"Um, yeah, OK! They are too busy remembering bicycle registrations to worry about anyhing else."
Lol!! Or, propping up long sticks outside Kobans!
1
warnerbro
Actually, Japan does have a 15 year statue of limitation on murder. It seems absurd, but the authorities claim that it is very difficult to present a case after such time. The limit was created before the advent of DNA evidence, I believe. I don't know what other crimes for which they may try to press charges on or the limits thereof, but perhaps he was involved in something in the meantime for which they can keep him. At the least he deserves a Singapore spanking for those shaved eyebrows.
2
zichi
The Statue of Limitations for murder was abolished but at the time of his crimes was 15 years.
0
safinator
classic - that means he walked past the what the dickens building cause thats where the branch was and the same floor as the present pub as I've been told.
-2
Sherman
That place in Ebisu, the Aum former branch, is now the British Pub "What the Dickens". Live house and meat market-I love irony.
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