LOS ANGELES – A Japanese businessman accused of conspiring to have his wife murdered 27 years ago in Los Angeles has been found dead in an apparent suicide, less than 24 hours after he set foot in the continental United States to answer to the charges.

Kazuyoshi Miura, 61, had apparently hanged himself while in police custody, said his attorney Mark Geragos who was notified by prosecutors in the case early Saturday about his client's death.

“I'm shocked,” Geragos, who was in Italy, told The Associated Press in a telephone call. “One of my lawyers was with him for 12 hours yesterday and he seemed in good spirits. He was looking forward to fighting this.”

District attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons confirmed that Miura was found dead in his cell. She said her office was notified of the death by police. A phone message left with a police spokeswoman was not immediately returned.

“The Los Angeles Police Department notified us last night Mr. Miura had been found dead in his cell,” Gibbons said. “I don't know the circumstances of his death and I don't know if next of kin have been notified yet.”

Miura arrived in Los Angeles on Friday after a trip from the U.S. commonwealth of Saipan, where he had been held since his February arrest on a 1988 Los Angeles County warrant alleging murder and conspiracy.

He was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

Miura was accused of plotting to have his wife killed during a visit the couple made to Los Angeles in 1981. Miura was hit in the leg, and his wife, Kazumi Miura, 28, was shot in the head. She died of her wounds a year later in Japan.

Los Angeles County prosecutors contended Miura wanted his wife dead so he could collect about $750,000 on her life insurance policies.

They argued that he signaled someone to shoot the couple, although no one else has been charged.

The case remains a huge story in Japan, where the media has for decades reported its every twist and turn.

After the 1988 arrest warrant was issued, prosecutors in Los Angeles decided to work with Japanese authorities instead of trying to have him extradited. He was convicted of murder in Japan in 1994 but the verdict ultimately was overturned and Japan's highest court issued an acquittal.

Earlier this week, prosecutors filed court papers seeking reinstatement of the murder charge. The 25-page motion argued that the law did not recognize convictions or acquittals outside of the United States.

However, Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen ruled that trying Miura for murder in California would violate a law against double jeopardy.

Miura had fought extradition but agreed to return to Los Angeles after the murder charge was dismissed – although conviction on the conspiracy charge could result in 25 years to life in state prison.

Geragos said he has contacted the Japanese consulate and asked them to notify Miura's current wife.

“She was on her way to Los Angeles and was to meet with me on Wednesday,” he said.