Ex-O.C. attorney denies saying he wanted his ex-wife killed on a cruise ship

A former Orange County attorney accused of strangling one of his ex-wives and throwing her body off an Italian cruise ship during testimony on Thursday denied telling anyone that he wanted to have the woman killed.

Lonnie Loren Kocontes, who is accused of killing 52-year-old Micki Kanesaki, took the stand as his ongoing murder trial resumed following a lengthy pause forced by the coronavirus pandemic, with his testimony live-streamed online as the need to spread jurors across the courtroom left it closed to the public.

Kocontes described a rocky relationship with Kanesaki, who he said was often depressed, at-times suicidal, and could become violent when she drank.

Kanesaki’s body was found in the Mediterranean Sea in May 2006, more than a day after prosecutors allege that Kocontes strangled Kanesaki and threw her off the side of a cruise ship. Kocontes’ attorney has contended that Kanesaki could have died from an accidental fall from the ship rather than foul play.

Kocontes met Kanesaki, who would become his second wife, at a law firm, where he was working as an attorney, she as a secretary. He described regular arguments during their relationship and after their divorce, including several confrontations that resulted in her arrest.

“I couldn’t get Micki to get help with her drinking,” Kocontes said. “It wasn’t that she was drinking large quantities, but when she was drinking her emotional reaction was unpredictable.”

Kocontes and Kanesaki continued living together after their break-up. But he denied allegations that he was concerned he would have to split his financial assets with Kanesaki.

“My work was in Orange County, I really didn’t have another place to live,” Kocontes said. “It wasn’t like we were fighting all the time and at war… When she didn’t drink we didn’t have problems.”

Despite Kocontes marrying, and then divorcing, another woman, Kocontes and Kanesaki remained financially intertwined through a Ladera Ranch home, which he said she refused to sell. The couple had reconciled leading up to her death, Kocontes said, and planned to remarry in 2006.

Earlier in the trial, Kocontes third wife, Amy Nguyen, testified that Kocontes told her prior to the cruise that his friend Bill Price, a former police officer and private investigator, was going to find someone to kill Kanesaki on the ship and provide Kocontes with an alibi. Nguyen said that when Price decided not to go on the cruise, Kocontes told her he would “have to take matters into his own hands.”

Prosecutors do not believe that Price – who also testified against Kocontes – had any actual role in Kanesaki’s death.

Kocontes flatly denied threatening to kill Kanesaki, or telling anyone anything about “eliminating” his ex-wife.

“I certainly never said anything about taking anything in my own hands,” Kocontes said.

Koconte’s testimony on Thursday touched on the lead-up to the cruise and the aftermath, but not the trip itself.

Kocontes did not wear a mask, as required for others in the courtroom, so that jurors could gauge his demeanor. He appeared calm throughout his testimony, though he appeared to get emotional and wiped his eyes with a tissue when speaking of having his feelings hurt by the suspicions of a family member of Kanesaki’s who questioned him about her death.

While awaiting trial, Kocontes was charged with soliciting fellow inmates to kill Nguyen to prevent her from testifying against him. He is expected to be tried separately on that charge, though the allegations will likely be brought up during his testimony in the current trial.

Kocontes’ attorney, Denise Gragg, has unsuccessfully pushed for a mistrial over newly-instituted court restrictions forced by the pandemic, including a lack of public access to the courtroom and moving the jury out of the jury box for social distancing. The defense attorney has also raised concerns about whether jurors will remember earlier testimony prior to the lengthy break, noting that the trial will likely hinge on which witnesses jurors find more credible.

Kocontes is expected to continue his testimony on Friday.