On April 12, 2007, Japanese tourist Masumi Watanabe disappeared in Pūpūkea.[1] Lankford was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on April 26, 2007, after police found blood and items belonging to Watanabe in his pickup truck.[1] Watanabe's body was never found, but the blood in Lankford's truck was determined to have been Watanabe's.
Lankford denied any involvement in her disappearance and maintained there was a police conspiracy against him. After failing a polygraph exam, he admitted to being involved in her disappearance.
At his trial, Lankford pleaded not guilty.[2] In his trial testimony, Lankford claimed that he had accidentally hit Watanabe with his truck, but that she had not been seriously injured and he offered to give her a ride to her destination. Lankford claims that after he began driving with Watanabe in the truck, she jumped out of the moving vehicle and hit her head on a rock by the road. When Lankford discovered that she had died, he says, he disposed of her body in the ocean because he said he was frightened that he would lose his job.[3] Prior to his trial, Lankford had told police he had never seen Watanabe before.
The jury found Lankford guilty of second-degree murder.[4] At his sentencing hearing, Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto referred to Lankford as a "predator" and sentenced him to life imprisonment.[5] Peter Carlisle, the city prosecutor, asked the parole board for 120-years minimum imprisonment.[6] He is currently serving his sentence at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona.[7]
NotesEdit
^ abEloise Aguiar, "Life turns upside down on North Shore", Honolulu Advertiser, 2007-04-28.
^Nelson Daranciang, "Jury set to deliberate in Lankford case: The prosecution and defense make their closing arguments", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 2008-04-11.
kirk, lankford, kirk, matthew, lankford, born, 1985, american, from, kalihi, hawaii, convicted, murdering, japanese, tourist, pūpūkea, hawaii, april, 2007, japanese, tourist, masumi, watanabe, disappeared, pūpūkea, lankford, arrested, charged, with, second, de. Kirk Matthew Lankford born 1985 is an American from Kalihi Hawaii who was convicted of murdering a Japanese tourist in Pupukea Hawaii On April 12 2007 Japanese tourist Masumi Watanabe disappeared in Pupukea 1 Lankford was arrested and charged with second degree murder on April 26 2007 after police found blood and items belonging to Watanabe in his pickup truck 1 Watanabe s body was never found but the blood in Lankford s truck was determined to have been Watanabe s Lankford denied any involvement in her disappearance and maintained there was a police conspiracy against him After failing a polygraph exam he admitted to being involved in her disappearance At his trial Lankford pleaded not guilty 2 In his trial testimony Lankford claimed that he had accidentally hit Watanabe with his truck but that she had not been seriously injured and he offered to give her a ride to her destination Lankford claims that after he began driving with Watanabe in the truck she jumped out of the moving vehicle and hit her head on a rock by the road When Lankford discovered that she had died he says he disposed of her body in the ocean because he said he was frightened that he would lose his job 3 Prior to his trial Lankford had told police he had never seen Watanabe before The jury found Lankford guilty of second degree murder 4 At his sentencing hearing Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto referred to Lankford as a predator and sentenced him to life imprisonment 5 Peter Carlisle the city prosecutor asked the parole board for 120 years minimum imprisonment 6 He is currently serving his sentence at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy Arizona 7 Notes Edit a b Eloise Aguiar Life turns upside down on North Shore Honolulu Advertiser 2007 04 28 Debra Barayuga Murder suspect claims innocence Honolulu Star Bulletin 2007 05 01 Nelson Daranciang Jury set to deliberate in Lankford case The prosecution and defense make their closing arguments Honolulu Star Bulletin 2008 04 11 Mary Vorsino Lankford guilty of murder Honolulu Advertiser 2008 04 15 Nelson Daranciang Judge calls Lankford a predator gives him life in prison Honolulu Star Bulletin 2008 07 31 Prosecutor asks parole board for 120 minimum for Lankford Archived 2009 03 05 at the Wayback Machine Honolulu Advertiser 2009 03 03 Kirk Lankford nbsp This Hawaiʻi related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kirk Lankford amp oldid 1177314998, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
