stsparky
02-23-2008, 09:35 PM
Man again held in his wife's 1981 killing in L.A. (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-japan23feb23,1,5576613.story)
Businessman acquitted in Japan is arrested in Saipan, a U.S. territory.
By Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 23, 2008
A decade after being acquitted in his own country, a Japanese businessman was arrested Friday on suspicion of murdering his wife in downtown Los Angeles almost 27 years ago.
Kazuyoshi Miura, 60, was taken into custody while visiting the U.S. territory of Saipan and could now face trial in L.A., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The November 1981 killing of Kazuma Miura initially caused an international uproar because her husband had blamed two street criminals, reinforcing Japanese stereotypes about violence in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities.
It was one of the most sensational international whodunits in Japanese history, and when suspicion turned to Kazuyoshi Miura, the Japanese media portrayed the case as a sordid tale of greed and murder for hire.
At the time of the shooting, Miura, a fashion importer who often traveled to Los Angeles, said he and his wife were tourists taking photos of the skyline on Fremont Avenue. He said his wife was shot in the head about noon in the middle of an area busy with lunchtime traffic.
He told police that two young men pulled up in an old, dark green American car and demanded money. When the Miuras hesitated, one of the men pointed a handgun out the car window, shot him in the leg, then shot his wife in the head before fleeing with about $1,200, Miura said.
Kazuma Miura, 28, lapsed into a coma after the shooting and died in Japan a year later.
Kazuyoshi Miura was put on trial in Japan for conspiracy to commit murder under a Japanese law that allows its citizens to be prosecuted for crimes committed in other countries.
He was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to life in prison. But the decision was reversed by the Tokyo High Court in 1998 when a judge determined that his wife's assailant was unknown.
Miura was arrested on charges of murder and conspiracy at the airport in Saipan, in the northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth territory of the United States. LAPD cold case detectives have been working with authorities in Guam and Saipan, believing that Miura would be visiting the island. Los Angeles officials are seeking his extradition.
Miura, authorities allege, staged his wife's murder to collect about $650,000 in insurance money, believing he could never get away with it in Japan -- but might be able to in downtown L.A. He served 13 years in prison for attacking his wife three months before she was shot.
marla.cone@latimes.com
==== ELSEWHERE =====
Miura held in U.S. over '81 murder / Saipan police acted on tip from LAPD
Tatsuhito Iida / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
LOS ANGELES--A 60-year-old former president of an imported goods trading firm who was acquitted by a Japanese court of murdering his 28-year-old wife in Los Angeles 27 years ago was arrested on the same charge at an airport in Saipan on Friday evening, the Los Angeles Police Department told The Yomiuri Shimbun on Saturday.
According to the LAPD, the Los Angeles Times Web site and other sources, Kazuyoshi Miura was taken into custody on the island after the LAPD obtained information of his whereabouts and requested the assistance of local police authorities in Saipan and Guam.
His trial is expected to be held in Los Angeles, the Times report said.
Official details of the investigation by U.S. police authorities that led to Miura's arrest have yet to be released.
A Japanese Consulate spokesman in Saipan said, "We were informed by a travel agent that a Japanese man was taken into custody by immigration authorities when departing Saipan for Narita Airport."
The spokesman said it was not confirmed whether the man in custody was Miura.
According to the consulate, a Japanese diplomat plans to visit the man detained in Saipan on Sunday.
In November 1981, Miura and his wife, Kazumi, were shot in a parking lot in Los Angeles. Kazumi died about a year later.
An insurance policy worth about 160 million yen had been taken out on her.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Miura in 1988 on suspicion of killing her to collect the insurance money.
He was given a life sentence by the Tokyo District Court in 1994, but the Tokyo High Court overturned the verdict in 1998, when a judge ruled that his wife's assailant was unknown.
The Supreme Court dismissed the prosecutors' appeal in March 2003.
===
'88 warrants led to detention
According to a lawyer contacted by Miura's current wife, Miura was arrested by local police authorities in Saipan when he was about to depart the island for Japan on Friday evening.
Miura was taken into custody on arrest warrants that the LAPD obtained in 1988 against him on suspicion of arranging for an acquaintance to attack his then wife Kazumi with a hammer at a Los Angeles hotel in August 1981 and having someone shoot her in a parking lot in the city in November the same year, the lawyer said.
According to the lawyer, whom Miura's wife contacted after she visited her husband in detention, Miura will be extradited to face trial in Los Angeles in the near future.
The lawyer said, "She said he looked healthy and positive, and he told her that he would soon be cleared of the allegations."
(Feb. 24, 2008)
Businessman acquitted in Japan is arrested in Saipan, a U.S. territory.
By Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer February 23, 2008
A decade after being acquitted in his own country, a Japanese businessman was arrested Friday on suspicion of murdering his wife in downtown Los Angeles almost 27 years ago.
Kazuyoshi Miura, 60, was taken into custody while visiting the U.S. territory of Saipan and could now face trial in L.A., according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The November 1981 killing of Kazuma Miura initially caused an international uproar because her husband had blamed two street criminals, reinforcing Japanese stereotypes about violence in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities.
It was one of the most sensational international whodunits in Japanese history, and when suspicion turned to Kazuyoshi Miura, the Japanese media portrayed the case as a sordid tale of greed and murder for hire.
At the time of the shooting, Miura, a fashion importer who often traveled to Los Angeles, said he and his wife were tourists taking photos of the skyline on Fremont Avenue. He said his wife was shot in the head about noon in the middle of an area busy with lunchtime traffic.
He told police that two young men pulled up in an old, dark green American car and demanded money. When the Miuras hesitated, one of the men pointed a handgun out the car window, shot him in the leg, then shot his wife in the head before fleeing with about $1,200, Miura said.
Kazuma Miura, 28, lapsed into a coma after the shooting and died in Japan a year later.
Kazuyoshi Miura was put on trial in Japan for conspiracy to commit murder under a Japanese law that allows its citizens to be prosecuted for crimes committed in other countries.
He was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to life in prison. But the decision was reversed by the Tokyo High Court in 1998 when a judge determined that his wife's assailant was unknown.
Miura was arrested on charges of murder and conspiracy at the airport in Saipan, in the northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth territory of the United States. LAPD cold case detectives have been working with authorities in Guam and Saipan, believing that Miura would be visiting the island. Los Angeles officials are seeking his extradition.
Miura, authorities allege, staged his wife's murder to collect about $650,000 in insurance money, believing he could never get away with it in Japan -- but might be able to in downtown L.A. He served 13 years in prison for attacking his wife three months before she was shot.
marla.cone@latimes.com
==== ELSEWHERE =====
Miura held in U.S. over '81 murder / Saipan police acted on tip from LAPD
Tatsuhito Iida / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
LOS ANGELES--A 60-year-old former president of an imported goods trading firm who was acquitted by a Japanese court of murdering his 28-year-old wife in Los Angeles 27 years ago was arrested on the same charge at an airport in Saipan on Friday evening, the Los Angeles Police Department told The Yomiuri Shimbun on Saturday.
According to the LAPD, the Los Angeles Times Web site and other sources, Kazuyoshi Miura was taken into custody on the island after the LAPD obtained information of his whereabouts and requested the assistance of local police authorities in Saipan and Guam.
His trial is expected to be held in Los Angeles, the Times report said.
Official details of the investigation by U.S. police authorities that led to Miura's arrest have yet to be released.
A Japanese Consulate spokesman in Saipan said, "We were informed by a travel agent that a Japanese man was taken into custody by immigration authorities when departing Saipan for Narita Airport."
The spokesman said it was not confirmed whether the man in custody was Miura.
According to the consulate, a Japanese diplomat plans to visit the man detained in Saipan on Sunday.
In November 1981, Miura and his wife, Kazumi, were shot in a parking lot in Los Angeles. Kazumi died about a year later.
An insurance policy worth about 160 million yen had been taken out on her.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Miura in 1988 on suspicion of killing her to collect the insurance money.
He was given a life sentence by the Tokyo District Court in 1994, but the Tokyo High Court overturned the verdict in 1998, when a judge ruled that his wife's assailant was unknown.
The Supreme Court dismissed the prosecutors' appeal in March 2003.
===
'88 warrants led to detention
According to a lawyer contacted by Miura's current wife, Miura was arrested by local police authorities in Saipan when he was about to depart the island for Japan on Friday evening.
Miura was taken into custody on arrest warrants that the LAPD obtained in 1988 against him on suspicion of arranging for an acquaintance to attack his then wife Kazumi with a hammer at a Los Angeles hotel in August 1981 and having someone shoot her in a parking lot in the city in November the same year, the lawyer said.
According to the lawyer, whom Miura's wife contacted after she visited her husband in detention, Miura will be extradited to face trial in Los Angeles in the near future.
The lawyer said, "She said he looked healthy and positive, and he told her that he would soon be cleared of the allegations."
(Feb. 24, 2008)