SANTA ANA – A jury deliberated for less than an hour June 15 before convicting an ex-lawyer of strangling his ex-wife and ????? ?????? ??????throwing her body overboard during a Mediterranean cruise 14 years ago.
He carried out the murder to inherit more than $1 million as the beneficiary of several bank accounts and the sale of the couple’s home.
Lonnie Loren Kocontes, 62, of Safety Harbor, Fla., was convicted on one count of first-degree murder with a special circumstances enhancement of murder for financial gain. He faces life without the possibility of parole. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 18.
The verdict came more than 14 years after the death of Kocontes’ ex-wife, Micki Kanesaki, while aboard a Mediterranean cruise in 2006.
Kocontes was indicted by a grand jury on June 14, 2013 for the murder of Kanesaki.
“The defendant thought he committed the perfect crime by throwing the victim overboard from the balcony of a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “But he made a mistake. Despite all of his painstaking planning to pick the perfect ship, the perfect room and the perfect time to commit a murder, the fact that he strangled her before throwing her overboard gave us the very evidence to convict him of murder.
“She couldn’t breathe in water because she was dead long before her body ever hit the ocean and when authorities found her, her cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation – not drowning. He chose the ship, he chose the balcony room and now the judge will decide his fate.”
On May 21, 2006, Kocontes flew with Kanesaki to Spain and boarded a cruise. On May 25, 2006, the couple took a daytime excursion and toured the town of Messina, Italy. The couple returned to the ship and Kanesaki was last seen alive at approximately 11 p.m.
Late on the night of May 25, 2006, or early in the morning of May 26, 2006, Kocontes strangled Kanesaki to death and threw her body overboard into the ocean. He later reported his ex-wife missing.
On the morning of May 27, 2006, Kocontes returned to California. Kanesaki’s body was discovered floating off the coast of Paola, Italy, later that day.
Kocontes was accused of financially benefited from the victim’s murder by being the beneficiary of several of their bank accounts and property and receiving the proceeds from the sale of their home.
In 2008, Kocontes attempted to transfer $1 million between various bank accounts which he held with his new wife. The Federal Bureau began investigating the money transfers for possible illegal activity and the U.S. Attorney’s Office ultimately seized the money from Kocontes’ bank accounts. A civil asset forfeiture case was subsequently filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office filed the murder case against Kocontes on Feb. 13, 2013. OCSD, U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force, and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department investigators arrested the defendant in Florida on Feb. 15, 2013.
Assistant District Attorney Susan Price and Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt of the Homicide Unit are prosecuting this case.
The victim’s brother, Toshi Kanesaki, told reporters, “I was kind of surprised. There are a lot of moving parts to this case. I didn’t think they could come to a verdict so soon… I was thinking worst-case scenario was a hung jury.”
Kanesaki said he was “relieved it’s over, for now.”
‘Penguin Highway’ at Japan Foundation
How British
Withings' Body Scan scale wants to measure your foot sweat
How chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect your sex life
Sansei Legacy Film Afternoon at GVJCI
10 trends Gen Z brought back in 2021
Orange M&M is now a Gen Z icon because of its extreme anxiety
Apple's iOS 15.4 beta lets you add COVID
Nominations Announced for 25th SAG Awards
Watch Bill Murray's surprise musical performance in an NYC park
Haunted Little Tokyo Film Festival Starts Friday
Put a smart ring on it: Why 2022 is prime time for finger wearables
The Razer Zephyr Pro adds voice amplification to its light
The catchiest earworms of 2021 that you just can't get out of your head
GVJCI's Annual Summer Festival on June 23
Baldness treatment touted by tufty mouse
On Substack, COVID misinformation is allowed to flourish
What the West Elm Caleb saga on TikTok is really about
Miya Folick Among Artists for Yoko Ono Retrospective at Disney Concert Hall
US Consumer Product Safety Commission Twitter account confirms birds are real
New Mexico's governor literally runs through walls in response to Trump's border wallJussie Smollett clarifies exactly what happened when he was attackedOut Magazine's latest issue celebrates women and nonPornhub says Patriots fans watched less porn than Rams fans during Super BowlSurreal memes deserve their own internet dimensionWe're getting a period emoji and it's bloody brilliant news25 good tweets for people who hate Valentine's DayTrump appears to mock Warren with genocide joke and people are lividOh my god they have Airpods in, they can't hear this memeSuperb Owl Sunday is swooping in to save your weekend A new meme makes fun of JK Rowling's fake woke additions to 'Harry Potter' Well, this wild Nextdoor post escalated quickly 20 TikTok accounts that will fill the void Vine left in your heart Former Starbucks CEO says he might run for president and gets immediately... roasted All the best signs from Women's March events around the country Please enjoy these Pope You could win a $1.7 million mansion by writing a standout letter Stephen King apparently owns a Tesla and Elon Musk is very proud Mariah Carey continues to be an absolute icon with her 10 Golden State Warriors hang out with Obama after skipping visit with Trump
0.1489s , 9925.5546875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【????? ?????? ??????】Former Attorney Convicted of Strangling Ex,Feature Flash
