SANTA ANA, Calif. — A former California lawyer who strangled his ex-wife and threw her body from a cruise ship near Italy in 2006 will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Lonnie Loren Kocontes, 62, was sentenced Friday to life without the possibility of parole in the death of 52-year-old Micki Kanesaki, whose body was found in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Paola, Italy, on May 27, 2006. Prosecutors argued that Kocontes killed Kanesaki for financial gain.
Kocontes was also accused of plotting to have his third ex-wife murdered in order to prevent her from testifying about the killing of Kanesaki, who was his second ex-wife.
