Lankford Trial Sparks Confrontation

HONOLULU -- A dramatic confrontation occurred in court Wednesday between the mother of a missing woman and the man defending the murder suspect.

KITV's Daryl Huff brings reported that he face-off between the grieving mother and Lankford's defense lawyer produced something interesting -- a big hint at how Lankford might try to beat the murder charge.

Fumiko Watanabe said she sent her 21-year-old daughter, Masumi, to Hawaii as a cure for her shy dependence. She never saw her daughter again.

The woman hosting Masumi Watanabe at Pupukea said the strategy was working.

In April, a witness reported to police that he saw Masumi Watanabe climb into a Hauoli pest control truck that police said was Lankford's.

Police said they found evidence of Masumi Watanabe's blood by the truck but no body.

"Even if it was an emergency situation, she would never get into a truck with this unknown person," Fumiko Watanabe said.

"What if she was accidentally hit by this truck?" asked Lankford's attorney, Don Wilkerson.

That question from Wilkerson, using the mother's insight into her daughter, may have added credibility to a potential defense, officials said, but the mom asked questions back.

"You are inferring that somebody -- unknown person -- hit Masumi and tried to bring her to the hospital by the truck?" Fumiko Watanabe said.

The attorney didn't answer that question, and he wouldn't confirm that that's Lankford's story.

Lankford's truck did have a damaged windshield, and he was photographed buying a shovel and was later spotted digging at midnight, so the accidental death followed by panic may be his defense, officials said.

"If she was hit by the truck, and if she cannot move at all, and somebody tells her, 'I am taking you to the hospital,' then she might get into the truck," Wilkerson said.

But Watanabe added something that won't help Lankford's defense. She said her daughter was so cautious that she would never put herself at risk of being accidentally run over in the first place.

The trial continues Thursday.