Orange County Attorney Convicted In Ex-Wife's Cruise Death

LADERA RANCH, CA — An Orange County jury on Monday found Lonnie Loren Kocontes guilty of first-degree murder and found true a special circumstance allegation for financial gain in the death of his ex-wife, Micki Kanesaki. Kocontes will be sentenced on September 18.

Kocontes is also accused of attempting to solicit the murder of another wife, Amy Nguyen, while he was in jail. A pretrial hearing for solicitation charges will also be held September 18.

Kocontes was charged with murder with a special circumstances allegation for financial gain in the killing of Kanesaki.

Prosecutors alleged the Ladera Ranch attorney booked a "cheap and cheerful" Mediterranean cruise with plans to strangle his ex-wife and throw her body overboard.

Kanesaki was last seen alive at 11 p.m. on May 25, 2006, after the pair disembarked from the cruise to tour Messina, Italy, and returned that evening.

Kocontes returned to California the morning of May 27, 2006. Kanesaki's body was found off the coast of Paola, Italy, the same day by the crew of a research vessel in the Mediterranean Sea.

Kocontes was arrested in Florida in February after a murder charge was filed in Orange County, but Judge William Evans later threw out the case on the basis of jurisdiction. But a grand jury indicted Kocontes on the same charge.

Prosecutors allege Kocontes benefited from the slaying because he was the beneficiary of several of Kanesaki's bank accounts and property such as their home, which he sold.

Kocontes came to the attention of federal agents in 2008 when he tried to move more than $1 million between various bank accounts with his new wife, according to the District Attorney's Office. Federal prosecutors eventually seized the money in a civil asset forfeiture case.

Orange County prosecutors began discussing the alleged murder in 2010 with federal prosecutors. New evidence was uncovered by Orange County sheriff's investigators later, leading to Kocontes' arrest, prosecutors said.

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.