AUMost At The End Of The Rope

File under: Gurus Doin' Time

There's little time left for AUM guru Shoko Asahara, said to be "the worst criminal in the history of Japan," as her people demand to be delivered from the continuing horror of his existence. Straight out of the plot of a James Bond movie, he's Adolf Osama Bin-Manson to those affected by his terrorist villainy, which included forced druggings, commonplace murder and those terrible attacks on the Toyko subway, meant to foster the apocalypse and catapult Asahara into power as the supreme ruler of Japan.

Instead, he's about to come to the end of his rope... where there's a noose waiting. There's not much his defense lawyers can do after Asahara's jackadoo gambit failed, leaving almost no hope for the daughters who still grieve for him despite the fact that his notoriety has made their lives a living hell.

And to add the final insult, the community whose members stuck with him though it all is splitting to follow a new, living leader. It's a fitting exodus as the sun finally sets on the life and legacy of one of the most horrible gurus ever to curse the face of our planet.