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Miyoshi:
in Flux from Vague to Damning
by Hilary
At
the time of the Rafay triple murder, Glenn Sebastian Burns and
Atif Rafay had an almost equally strong friendship with
high-school pal Jimmy Miyoshi as they did with each other.
Following the murders, Miyoshi was questioned by investigators,
and even arrested initially along with the other two, on conspiracy to commit murder. Comments he made
at the time could inflict a damning blow to Burns and Rafay should
they be repeated in court. But the likelihood of him
uttering the same words in court that he did to officials in
Seattle nearly a decade ago may be a remote one. Miyoshi has
wavered both directions on whether to voluntarily testify in the
first place, and admits to lying to police in some past
statements. And just when you thought the international
legal drama and border-crossing struggles were over, it turns out
that Miyoshi moved (or fled, depending on who you ask) to
Japan. He tried to put the past behind him, including
memories of what Burns and Rafay may or may not have told him, and
started life over in Japan. Miyoshi admits he's pretty much
been avoiding King County prosecutors ever since, and has been
reluctant to return to testify.
After
the murders, Miyoshi recounted to investigators several candid
conversations he had with Burns and Rafay, which included
discussion of the best ways to kill the Rafay family (during which
a baseball bat was suggested as a relatively "humane"
option) and the possibility of an insurance pay-off (although this
was not cited as the primary motive for the killings).
Miyoshi claims they even gave him details after the murder about
how the deed was carried out, where the evidence was stashed,
their attempts to craft an alibi, and so on and so forth.
Miyoshi, perhaps in his loyalty to his friends, expressed that he
has never felt right about telling prosecutors of the
conversations. This explains why, after painting this gory
picture, he left for Japan and never looked back.
Prosecutors tracked him down in Japan, going so far as to contact
Miyoshi's boss about the case. That approach got prosecutors
results: after Miyoshi's boss told him to take care of the
problem, it appears that he may come back to the states to testify
after all.
However,
this doesn't mean the case will proceed to any easier a conclusion.
Miyoshi's statements, which are now vigilantly video-taped in case
he recants on any of his statements, came forth with brand new,
seemingly incriminating testimony as late as August 2003, then
did a 180 degree turn-about, calling Burns' lawyers to ask
"how the situation would change" if he became a witness
for the defense. Given his apparent schizophrenia, Miyoshi
may be better characterized as a "wild card" in what's
already a trick deck, than as a "sure thing" for either
side. His testimony could prove damning, it could fail to
materialize at all, or the defense may make him out to be nothing
more than an unreliable buffoon. Or perhaps he has
incriminating secrets of his own to hide, and doesn't want to risk
their being dredged up during the court case. All we can do
is stay tuned and find out....
Trial
Dates and Court Information
No trial dates set for sure yet, but a good inside source has
told us its expected to begin in November. In the mean time,
feel free to visit other trials, browse the website, pay your
tickets, get married, etc., all courtesy of the King
County Courthouse, located in beautiful downtown Seattle!
516
3rd Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: (206) 296-9100
Fax: (206) 296-0986
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