Kazuyoshi Miura returned to Los Angeles yesterday from the U.S. territory of Saipan to stand trial for the 1981 murder of his wife Kazumi Miura. He hanged himself in his police cell less than 24 hours later and was discovered early Saturday morning, according to his high profile lawyer Mark Geragos.
Miura has been held in a Saipan jail since February and had arrived in L.A. for arraignment in the 1981 murder of his then 28 year old wife Kazumi Miura. The couple were shot by an unknown gunman while they were visiting downtown Los Angeles. Miura received a superficial leg wound but his wife was gravely injured. He took her back to Japan, where she died a year later. Miura was convicted in Japan of her murder in 1994 but the verdict was overturned four years later.
Police have watched Miura’s blogsite for years. In early 2008 he shared with his readers that he would be traveling to Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth. They arrested him as he came through the airport in Saipan, where he has been held since February.
Miura was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Los Angeles on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Evidence accumulated and held for 27 years strongly supported the state’s claim that he had his wife killed in order to collect $750,000 on her life insurance policy.
Miura, who has fought extradition since 1988, agreed to return to the U.S. after learning that his L.A. murder charge had been dismissed . A new 25 page motion seeking reinstatement of the charges was filed earlier this week based on a 2004 state law that does not recognize convictions and acquittals outside the U.S.
That knowledge may have caused the incarcerated Miura to take his own life. According to his lawyer, he spent 12 hours on Friday with a legal colleague who reported that the inmate was in good spirits. He was expecting his second wife to join him on Wednesday. Geragos has notified her of his death.
Check out our photo gallery below.
See original coverage of case from L.A. Times archives from 1985.
Check out Miura’s blogsite details here.
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