Japanese Indict Pair in Killing of Woman in L.A.
In a case that has created a sensation in Japan, prosecutors today indicted Kazuyoshi Miura and Yoshikuni Okubo on charges of murdering Miura’s wife in Los Angeles seven years ago to collect $1.22 million in insurance.
An official of the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tokyo said prosecutors decided to indict the two after investigating the case in cooperation with police in Los Angeles.
Kyodo News Service reported that prosecutors later also charged the two with fraud for having collected the money from three insurance companies.
Police arrested Miura, 41, and Okubo, 36, on Oct. 21.
In Coma for a Year
Miura’s former wife, Kazumi, then 28, was shot in the head with a 22-caliber rifle near Fremont Avenue in Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 1981. She was in a coma more than a year and died Nov. 30, 1982, in a hospital in Japan.
Miura’s case was given sensational coverage by the Japanese media, especially when the comatose Mrs. Miura was flown home in a U.S. military aircraft at Miura’s request.
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