Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura is found dead in jail cell

"It was apparent that the murder suspect, alone in his cell, had used a piece of his shirt as a makeshift ligature around his neck," Beck said.

Miura, who had been dressed in street clothes, was taken to County-USC Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Beck said.

Authorities contacted the Japanese consulate general's office, which notified Miura's family in Japan.

Miura's case has long been a high-profile story in Japan, where the once ocean-hopping importer was dubbed "the Japanese O.J. Simpson."

His extradition had drawn journalists to Los Angeles from dozens of media outlets as far away as Bangkok, Tokyo and Saipan, the U.S. territory Miura had been visiting when he was taken into custody in February.

Miura's attorney, Mark Geragos, who spoke from New York, said the Los Angeles County district attorney's office notified him about 12:15 a.m. Saturday. "None of this makes any sense," he said.

Geragos said 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. "He was ready and girded for the fight."

Geragos said he would demand an independent investigation. Beck said the department would conduct a "thorough investigation," which will be reviewed by Police Chief William J. Bratton, the LAPD's inspector general and the Los Angeles Police Commission.

"Irony of ironies that after all this time he's finally back and now this," Bratton said Saturday. "It's tragic in the sense that the opportunity to have him go before a court, well, that opportunity is not going to present itself. Whatever his reason for taking his own life, well, it leaves the whole matter unsettled."

According to the state's "minimum jail standards," cell inspections are required every 30 minutes. Based on the LAPD's preliminary information, a detention officer checked on Miura at 9:36 p.m. and found nothing unusual.

The officer signed an inspection log on a clipboard outside the cell, Beck said. Less than 10 minutes later, another officer passed by and saw that Miura had hanged himself with his T-shirt, Beck said.

The officer and two others rushed into the cell to administer CPR. Medical personnel from the jail dispensary and Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics continued treating Miura.

Beck said Miura had made no statements indicating that he was suicidal, nor had he acted in any way to suggest that he would kill himself.

Miura had served stints in jails in Japan and Saipan without displaying any signs of extreme emotional problems, police said.

Miura was accused of plotting the death of his wife, Kazumi Miura, 28, who was shot in the head while the couple were visiting downtown Los Angeles in November 1981. Miura was shot in the leg.

A warrant for his arrest was issued in 1988 alleging murder and conspiracy, but Los Angeles detectives could not extradite him while he was living in Japan. Miura was convicted there of murder in 1994, but the verdict was later overturned.

But in February, Miura wrote on his blog about plans to visit Saipan. He was arrested there on the original 1988 arrest warrant as he tried to return to Japan.

Miura at first fought extradition but last month agreed to return to L.A. 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.