In February, Miura wrote on his blog about plans to visit Saipan. He was arrested there on the original 1988 warrant.
Miura at first fought extradition but last month agreed to return to Los Angeles after a judge dismissed the murder charge as double jeopardy because of Miura's trial in Japan.
A charge of conspiracy to commit murder remained.
After the legal hurdles were cleared, Miura was flown to Los Angeles. He had been booked and was scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 14 on the conspiracy charge.
Miura was found dead in his cell about 9:45 p.m. Oct. 10 by a custody officer. LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said a preliminary investigation of the incident found no violations of LAPD policy or state law requiring regular half-hour checks on inmates. An LAPD detention officer checked on Miura at 9:36 p.m. -- 10 minutes before he was found in distress -- and noted nothing unusual.
Beck added that Miura had made no statements indicating he was suicidal, nor had he acted in any way to suggest he would kill himself either in Los Angeles or during previous stints in jail.
Geragos told The Times that a lawyer from his office had visited Miura, who was in good spirits.
"There was no indication that he was despondent or depressed," Geragos said at the time. "He was ready and girded for the fight."
andrew.blankstein@ latimes.com
