Prosecutors may seek a life-without-parole punishment for Corbit K. Ahn, indicted yesterday on charges of sexually assaulting and murdering 18-year-old Iris Rodrigues-Kaikana last month in Kalihi.

Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Ikeda called Ahn a "career criminal" because he was convicted of second-degree assault and breaking into a motor vehicle in 2007 and is now on five years of probation for those offenses.

Those same convictions also qualify Ahn to be prosecuted as a "persistent offender" and if he is convicted, the state can seek an "extended term" of sentencing beyond the normal punishment for second-degree murder, life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Ahn, 29, was arrested by police last weekend on a charge of second-degree murder.

According to a police affidavit, Ahn and Rodrigues-Kaikana were present in a Kamehameha Homes apartment the night before her nude body was discovered in a nearby dirt alley.

Police also reported that DNA evidence found on the victim's body matched Ahn's DNA.

Ahn's lawyer, Donald Wilkerson, said it is "ridiculous" to classify Ahn as a career criminal.

Wilkerson, who asserted earlier this week that police may have tampered with evidence in the Ahn case, found it significant yesterday that authorities have now included the third-degree sex assault charge against his client.

"That implies that they don't have DNA evidence," Wilkerson said.

The third-degree charge usually involves fondling or other sexual contact that wouldn't be expected to produce DNA evidence, Wilkerson indicated.

He repeated his claim that evidence may have been tampered with but again would not be specific about the allegation. "It's my understanding that the prosecutor's office is investigating problems with the evidence," he said.

Jim Fulton, executive assistant to Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, would not comment on Wilkerson's statement.