“I couldn’t blame him,” said a legal assistant who asked not to be named.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Miura, 61, hanged himself inside the Los Angeles Metropolitan Jail.
John Atalig, a local court marshal, said he couldn’t believe that Miura would kill himself because the murder charge was already dropped.
Atalig was among those who escorted Miura whenever he appeared before the CNMI Superior Court.
Chief Prosecutor Kevin Lynch, who assisted Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Warfield Sr. from time to time on Miura’s extradition case, was also shocked by the news that Miura killed himself.
“Mr. Miura has been under a lot of pressure for a long time,” he added.
A government employee, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s unbelievable.”
Still, another resident said, “It’s very Japanese — hara-kiri.”
Bruce Berline, Miura’s lead counsel here, who left for California this week, said his client’s suicide doesn’t make sense.
Miura’s autopsy report is expected to be released this week.
Gregory Castro, the director of the Department of Corrections, said there was no indication that Miura was suicidal.
He said he was not aware that Miura underwent psychological evaluation during his stay at the local corrections facility.
“If there was any indication, he would have been referred to a psychological evaluation,” he told Variety.
He said Miura was well behaved inside the jail and they even spoke on few occasions about jail policies.
But he said he wasn’t surprised that the island’s most famous detainee is now dead.
“Anybody can commit suicide,” he said.
Four LAPD agents flew to Saipan to escort Miura to L.A. on Oct. 10.
Miura agreed to stand trial in California after L.A. Judge Steven Van Sicklen ruled on Sept. 26 to drop the murder charge against him on grounds of double jeopardy.
Japan’s high court acquitted him of the crime in 1998.
The conspiracy charge against Miura, however, stayed and he would have been arraigned for it last Tuesday in L.A.
Miura was a frequent visitor of Saipan and it was his blog entry regarding one of his visits that caught the attention of the LAPD.
LAPD then alerted local immigration authorities over his pending 1988 murder case in California.
On Feb. 22, Miura was held and arrested at the Saipan International Airport before he could board a plane to Japan.
He hired three veteran lawyers to represent him in his extradition case — Bruce Berline, William Fitzgerald and Mark Hanson.
Miura’s detention here drew the attention of the Japanese media.
Several major TV networks — Fuji TV, Tokyo Broadcasting System, NTV, NHK, TV Asahi, including Japan’s largest wire service, Kyodo News — sent journalists to the island to cover Miura’s extradition trial.
