A witness told a grand jury that he saw accused killer Kirk Matthew Lankford, dressed in new coveralls and gloves, digging in the ground at a remote Windward O'ahu location shortly before midnight on the day Masumi Watanabe was last seen.

Lankford, 22, of Kalihi, is charged with murdering Watanabe, a 21-year-old Japanese woman who was visiting O'ahu last April. Watanabe's body has never been recovered and the case against Lankford is based on circumstantial evidence.

The witness, John Thoma, testified that he encountered a man "digging with a shovel" by flashlight near the Kahana Bay fishpond off Kamehameha Highway at about midnight on April 12, court papers show.

"He told me that he had been there two months prior and had lost a chain and he was looking for it," Thoma said, according to court papers.

"He was wearing what looked to me to be (a) brand-new pair of blue coveralls, jumpsuit type, and gloves, brand-new gloves," Thoma told the grand jury.

Details of the grand jury testimony were disclosed yesterday, the same day the Hawai'i Supreme Court ordered the trial be delayed.

The order was issued after Lankford's lawyer filed a motion protesting pretrial rulings by the Circuit Court judge presiding over the case. Lankford remains at O'ahu Community Correctional Center unable to post the $1 million bail.

In filing the paperwork with the Supreme Court, Lankford's lawyer, Donald Wilkerson, exposed previously confidential details of the state's case, including the grand jury testimony.

'VERY, VERY STRANGE'

According to the papers, deputy prosecutor Deann Afualo asked Thoma: "Did it seem unusual that someone would be digging in that area at that time of night?"

"Yes," Thoma said. "It struck me as very, very strange."

Thoma said the man first identified himself as "Matt," then as "Matt Ford."

Thoma said the man told him he had no identification and became "antsy" after Thoma "told him I'd like for him to talk to a police officer."

Lankford "gathered up his stuff and started hustling his way towards — towards his truck," Thoma testified.

After the man had driven off on Kamehameha Highway in the direction of Kane'ohe, Thoma said, he scratched the truck's license number into the white stripe on the edge of the highway.

"As a matter of fact, I scratched it in four times because I wanted to make sure that in case it rained or something or got run over that it still had it," he said.

Police witnesses testified that the license number belonged to Lankford's personal vehicle and that Thoma picked Lankford's picture from a "photo lineup" as the man he saw that night.

RULINGS CHALLENGED

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon halted jury selection in the trial, ordering a delay until it can rule on Wilkerson's motion that Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto should have dismissed a murder-by-omission charge against Lankford.

Wilkerson also protested a ruling by Sakamoto allowing the prosecution to question defense witnesses under oath before the trial commences.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, who is handling the Lankford trial personally, declined comment yesterday evening.

Wilkerson said, "I am looking forward to a positive decision" from the Supreme Court. He said the issues may be decided "in a matter of days or a matter of weeks."

Another witness, Lisa Nakayama, testified that on the morning of April 12 she saw the driver of a Hauoli Pest Control truck speaking to an Asian woman on the side of Pupukea Road and saw the woman get into the truck.

Nakayama said she could not identify the man or the woman but her description of the woman's clothes matched another witness' description of what Watanabe was wearing that morning.

Lankford was employed by Hauoli Pest Control when he was arrested by police on suspicion of killing Watanabe.

DNA EVIDENCE

Police witnesses testified to the grand jury that they recovered prescription glasses matching the pair that Watanabe wore from a Hauoli truck that Lankford had allegedly driven the morning of April 12 while on a job in the Pupukea Road area.

The glasses were "wedged between the seat portion and the backrest" in the truck, HPD Detective Sheryl Sunia told the grand jury.

DNA evidence taken from the eyeglasses matched Watanabe's DNA, police witnesses said.

And DNA from spots of blood found on the passenger door panel inside the truck also matched Watanabe's DNA, the grand jury was told.

Another witness, Yumi Miura, testified that Watanabe had been staying as a guest at her North Shore home from February 2007 until the day she disappeared.

'REALLY SHY' VICTIM

Miura described Watanabe as a "really shy" young woman who spoke very little English and did not socialize with anyone other than members of Miura's family.

Miura said Watanabe would ride along in the mornings when Miura dropped her children at school and would then walk part of the way home on Pupukea Road. It was done "for exercise and because she learned to enjoy the walk," Miura testified.

But Watanabe never returned home from her walk that morning, Miura told the grand jury. The young woman had been scheduled to return to Japan on April 24, Miura said.

Wilkerson included the grand jury transcript with the Supreme Court as a part of a motion filed yesterday seeking a delay in the trial.

The lawyer objected to Judge Sakamoto's earlier ruling allowing the prosecution to question two defense expert witnesses before trial. The lawyer said in the motion that allowing the prosecution access to the witnesses would prejudice Lankford's rights to a fair trial and could even result in the witnesses providing confidential defense information to the state.

The motion was filed just as jury selection began in the case yesterday morning. The trial had been expected to last well into next month.

Watanabe's parents have repeatedly visited Honolulu from Japan to assist in the search for their daughter's remains. They said late last year they plan to attend the murder trial.

The parents, Hideichi and Fumiko Watanabe, have posted a $30,000 reward for recovery of their daughter's body, according to a Web site dedicated to the case, www.findmasumi.org.

The same Web site said a memorial service is planned for April 12 at Kawaiahao Church to commemorate the anniversary of her disappearance.