Kazuyoshi Miura Found Dead!

Japanese business man Kazuyoshi Miura was found dead in his cell this morning of an apparent suicide. Miura had just been returned to the US on Friday after awaiting extradition in Saipan for over seven months on a 1988 murder and conspiracy warrant. He had been in the US less than 24 hours. Miura was to be arraigned Tuesday morning for the 1981 shooting of his wife, Kazumi on a busy downtown Los Angeles street. After the shooting, Kazumi lingered in a coma for over a year before passing.

Several years later, stories broke in the Japanese press that Miura had a mistress and that he conspired to kill his wife for three insurance polices taken out on her life, the last one purchased the day before she was shot. Those stories kicked off an investigation in Japan that led to his eventual arrest and conviction for attempted murder, murder, and fraud. After serving approximately ten years of his sentence, Miura's murder conviction was overturned by a higher court in Japan.

Miura, sometimes labeled "Japan's OJ" in his native country, was somewhat of a celebrity there where his case garnered national attention and his every move was chronicled by the press.

When I told Mr. Sprocket about the news this morning, he wondered if this was something that was common for a Japanese man awaiting trial.

Special thanks to Sherri for the heads up on the story.

CNN.Crime

The Associated Press