SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A former Southern California lawyer was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for strangling his ex-wife and throwing her body off a cruise ship in the Mediterranean in 2006. Lonnie Loren Kocontes was sentenced Friday after being convicted in June of first-degree murder with a special circumstances enhancement of murder for financial gain. Prosecutors said Kocontes killed Micki Kanesaki in order to inherit more than $1 million. The cruise from Spain to Italy began on May 21, 2006, and Kanesaki was last seen alive the night of May 25. Her body was found floating off the coast of Paola, Italy, two days later.
AP
FILE - This 2013 file photo released by the Orange County District Attorney's Office shows Lonnie Loren Kocontes. Kocontes, a former Southern California lawyer was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for strangling his ex-wife and throwing her body off a cruise ship in the Mediterranean in 2006. Lonnie Loren Kocontes was sentenced Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, after being convicted in June of first-degree murder with a special circumstances enhancement of murder for financial gain.(Orange County District Attorney's Office via AP, File)
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