Two days after family, friends and supporters marked one year since the disappearance of a shy 21-year-old woman from Japan who came to O'ahu seeking self-confidence, her accused killer was convicted of second-degree murder, for which he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Jurors deliberated for just a day and a half before reaching a unanimous guilty verdict for former pest control worker Kirk Lankford yesterday afternoon. That was despite the fact that authorities have not found the woman's body.

The jury found Lankford guilty of "murder by commission" — intentionally killing Masumi Watanabe at some point on April 12, 2007, the day she was last seen alive.

Watanabe's death shocked North Shore residents unaccustomed to violent crimes, spurred hundreds to join teams looking for her body around O'ahu and garnered widespread attention in Hawai'i and Japan.

The youngest of five children, Watanabe was sent here by her parents from the rural Japanese island of Sado so she could learn to be more independent. She was staying with a distant relative on Pupukea Road.

The trial included the uncommon sight of the jury, lawyers, judge and defendant touring North Shore sites where Lankford and his victim spent time the day she disappeared.

"I hope this brings some comfort and closure to the family," said city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, who argued the case, after leaving the courtroom. "It's taken us a year ... to get here."

Asked whether he was surprised the jury came back so quickly, Carlisle replied, "I think they took enough time so they could go over all the evidence."

Watanabe's parents were traveling back to Japan yesterday after attending a public memorial for their daughter Saturday at Kawaiaha'o Church, and did not hear about the verdict until last night.

Family spokesman and friend Bob Iinuma, who put up a Web site in Watanabe's memory, said the verdict will help her parents heal and move on to "become stronger."

"I'm so happy for the Watanabe family. This is the best thing that has happened so far," he said. "But this is not the end. We still need to find her body and find out what really happened."

SENTENCING PHASE

The jurors who found Lankford guilty also will decide his sentence, and will reconvene May 27 when the sentencing phase starts. Because they are still bound by court rules against discussing the case, they were not able to speak to the news media yesterday.

The typical penalty for second-degree murder is life with the possibility of parole. But Carlisle outside of court yesterday said he will argue that Lankford should not be given the chance for parole. He declined to say anything else about the sentencing portion of the trial.

In a statement during the court proceedings, he said with the jurors out of the room that he hopes to conduct a psychological evaluation on Lankford and present evidence that shows he has exhibited a pattern of "psychopathic" behaviors, including an assault on another woman for which he was acquitted, and alleged "attacks on his wife" and "attacks on cats and other animals."

DEFENSE BLASTS PRESS

Don Wilkerson, Lankford's defense attorney, objected to bringing new evidence before jurors and said he is pursuing a new trial because of allegations of juror misconduct. He said at least one juror talked to a reporter.

But Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto said the allegations were unsubstantiated and concerned an alternate juror.

After the hearing, Wilkerson blasted reporters in his only public statement.

"Shame on you!" he shouted at reporters. "Every one of you has participated in the most dishonest reporting I have ever seen in this state."

He then left abruptly with Lankford's father.

The two did not comment further.

Lankford showed little emotion after the verdict was read.

At one point, the 23-year-old wiped tears from his eyes.

But otherwise, he looked down at his notes or at the jury.

After the verdict was announced, Carlisle praised the Honolulu Police Department and its investigation.

"We are pleased with the jury's verdict and believe that justice has been served," police chief Boisse Correa said in a statement. "We also hope that this conviction brings some measure of closure for the Watanabe family. I would like to thank everyone in HPD and the prosecutor's office who worked to obtain justice for this young, innocent woman."

CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS

Police recovered a pair of glasses that prosecutors said belonged to Watanabe wedged between the passenger seat cushion and seat back in the Hauoli Termite and Pest Control truck that Lankford drove. Police also found traces of blood on the passenger door, seat, floor mat and weather stripping of the truck that matched Watanabe's DNA.

The state's case included information about seven locations where Lankford's truck stopped the morning of April 12 that were identified using a Global Positioning System device installed on the truck that used satellite signals to track its movements.

Lankford testified in his trial that he accidentally hit Watanabe with his work truck as she stood by the side of Pupukea Road. He said she had only minor injuries, but died when she became frantic and jumped from his moving truck, hitting her head on a roadside rock.

Fearful of losing his job, Lankford said, he put Watanabe's body into his truck and completed a day of work. That night, he testified, he took the body out to sea wrapped in plastic bags.

In closing arguments Thursday, Wilkerson tried to discredit the prosecution's evidence and create doubt in the jurors' minds. He repeatedly stressed that the jury could only convict Lankford if they knew he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The prosecution, meanwhile, said Lankford's story did not add up. Prosecution witnesses testified to seeing Watanabe getting into Lankford's truck and apparently arguing with him. An accident reconstructionist, Ken Baker, said the description Lankford gave of how Watanabe was struck, then jumped out of the truck and hit her head on a rock was "a physical impossibility."

Watanabe each morning helped her relative take the family's three children to Sunset Elementary School. On the drive home, Watanabe typically got out of the car and walked up Pupukea Road to exercise. When Watanabe did not return on April 12, her relative called police.

Watanabe had no money or phone, and spoke little English.

The jury started deliberations Friday and came back with a verdict yesterday about noon.