Ex-OC attorney accused of killing wife on cruise ship denies she had proof he committed fraud

An ex-Orange County attorney accused of killing an ex-wife on an Italian cruise ship denied that the woman had discovered evidence of his committing fraud, as his testimony continued Monday, June 1, in his ongoing murder trial.

Lonnie Kocontes has testified to waking up to find his second wife, Micki Kanesaki, missing while the two were on the Island Escape cruise ship on the Mediterranean Sea in May 2006, denying allegations by prosecutors that he strangled Kanesaki and threw her body overboard. He has also denied telling his third wife prior to the cruise that he wanted to have Kanesaki killed on the ship, or threatening to “take matters into his own hands.”

“I don’t know if my ex-wife was killed,” Kocontes said on Monday. “I don’t know what happened to my ex-wife, Micki.”

Kocontes earlier in the testimony described Kanesaki as often-depressed and at-times violent when she drank. Despite their break-up and Koconte’s subsequent marriage to and divorce from another woman, Koconte’s said he had reconciled with Kanesaki and they were planning on re-marrying.

The couple had remained financially intertwined through a Ladera Ranch home that she didn’t want to sell.

“She wasn’t giving you what you wanted,” Assistant District Attorney Susan Price said.

“She wasn’t being reasonable,” Kocontes responded.

Kocontes acknowledged that several months before the cruise he wrote new wills for he and Kanesaki, which left their assets to each other. But he denied allegations that Kanesaki had “proof” that he had defrauded and embezzled a substantial amount of money from a client.

“While she had that information, you reconciled with her and you rewrote her will,” Price said.

“I reconciled with Micki because she agreed to go to counseling, so that is absolutely incorrect what you just said,” Kocontes said.

Kocontes’ third wife, Amy Nguyen, previously testified that Kocontes told her prior to the cruise that Kocontes’ friend Bill Price, a former police officer and private investigator, was going to find someone to kill Kanesaki on the ship. Prosecutors do not believe Price was actually involved in the death, and he has testified against Kocontes.

During questioning by the prosecutor, Kocontes acknolwedged that at one point after Kanesaki’s death he “speculated” to Nguyen that Price “could have” caused Kanesaki to be killed or thrown off the ship. The potential motivation he acknowledged in that “hypothetical” was Price expecting that he would make money when Kocontes hired him to investigate the death.

“I did say that in response to a question she asked me, that it could have happened that way,” Kocontes said. “I believed he was capable of that, is what I said to her.”

“How does him killing Micki Kanesaki equate to him making money from you?” Price asked.

“Obviously I would have to be the one who was a suspect for that to occur,” Kocontes responded.

The crew of an oceanography research vessel spotted Kanesaki’s body and pulled it out of the ocean nearly two days after her disappearance.

“You never thought her body would wash up, did you?” Price asked.

“I was told by the American consulate that it would be a miracle if they found her,” Kocontes said.

Kocontes’ attorney has contended that Kanesaki could have died from an accidental fall into the ocean, rather than foul play.

The courtroom has been closed to the public, and the testimony live-streamed, in order to give jurors room to socially-distance. Kocontes is scheduled to take the stand again on Tuesday.