Police arrest suspect after attack at lecture

Behavioral scientist stabbed in leg during conference at La Fonda

Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican

4/2/2008 - 4/3/08

An Englishman speaking on "thought transference" during an international conference at La Fonda on Wednesday was stabbed in the leg by a Japanese man who seemed upset by his remarks, witnesses said.

Rupert Sheldrake of London was sitting up and alert as medics took him on a gurney to an ambulance outside Santa Fe's historic hotel at the southeast corner of the Plaza. Asked if he was OK, Sheldrake smiled and responded, "I hope so."

Hirano Kazuki, 33, of Yokohama, Japan, spent Wednesday night in jail after he was arrested on charges of aggravated battery and assault with intent to commit a violent felony. He provided no resistance as officers led him in handcuffs from the hotel.

Hirano had been attending the 10th International Conference on Science and Consciousness. Other attendees said he had been acting oddly. They said he confronted Sheldrake earlier this week, telling him he heard voices and saw demons. Another featured speaker at the conference told the man he was "full of negative energy" and counseled him to "calm down," said Evan Mecham, an attendee from Broomfield, Colo.

Another attendee, David Graves of Tel Aviv, Israel, said he had tried to talk to Hirano earlier in the conference, but he did not respond. On Tuesday, Graves said he watched Hirano as he sat on a bench, rocking back and forth, like an orthodox Jew in prayer. "Why the hell would he attack that guy?" he asked.

Sheldrake's keynote address was titled "Memory and Morphic Resonance," and his workshop was "Fields of the Mind: Experimental and Research and Practical Intuition," according to a catalog on the conference which began Monday and concluded today. Sheldrake, described as a biologist with a doctorate degree, is the author of Seven Experiences that Could Change the World.

David Edwards of Fresno, Calif., said Sheldrake had been talking about how thoughts can be transferred by staring into another's eyes. During the lecture in the main ballroom on La Fonda's second floor, an Asian man left the room and when he returned, he didn't take a seat but stood near the podium with his eyes closed like he was meditating, Edwards said.

The attack came when Sheldrake called for a break about 3 p.m. Edwards said he started to leave the room when he heard a commotion. By the time he looked back, he said, an Asian man was being held on the floor by four people while a fifth held a knife in a napkin. Mecham said the knife was a folding type that hunters typically use.

Edwards said Sheldrake had a 2- or 3-inch cut on the front of his left thigh, just above his kneecap, causing blood to spurt some 8 inches into the air as he lay on his back. Edwards, who is a physician, said he stemmed the blood loss while they waited for the ambulance and police. Had Sheldrake not been standing at the podium, Edwards said, the stab wound might have been more serious because it would have been higher on his body.

Edwards said when he asked Hirano why he stabbed Sheldrake, Hirano mumbled something he couldn't understand. "He seemed like he was in a trance or schizophrenic," Edward said. "He seemed to be angry."

Police Capt. Gary Johnson said the first law-enforcement officers to arrive on the scene were his brother, Chief Eric Johnson, and Sheriff's Lt. Marco Lucero, who both had been at a meeting at City Hall, and Officer Cecil Sena, who patrols the Plaza and downtown. By the time they arrived, conference attendees had subdued Hirano and were treating Sheldrake, Gary Johnson said. He said Sheldrake was taken to St. Vincent Regional Medical Center where his injuries were determined not to be life-threatening.

After police found Hirano's Japanese passport, which listed his home as Tokyo, Johnson said, "we notified the Japanese consulate to advise them of the custody of one of their nationals." Hirano was booked into the Santa Fe County jail about 9 p.m. and is expected to be arraigned this afternoon in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court. His online booking sheet listed his home as Yokohama.

Many people attending the conference appeared shaken by the incident and declined to comment. A man who helped subdue Hirano would only say, "The creator will take care of the rest of it." Attendees gathered for a prayer session before leaving La Fonda on Wednesday afternoon.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.