HONOLULU -- The man accused of murdering a Japanese visitor took the witness stand on Wednesday after weeks of testimony from others.

Kirk Lankford claimed that Masumi Watanabe essentially killed herself. He said he hurt her slightly in a pedestrian accident. Then when he tried to take her home, she panicked and dove out of his truck straight into a rock.

"There was a mark either at her temple or above her temple, where it looked like something had either punctured or just cracked her skull open," Lankford said.

He said he put Watanabe's body in the truck. Despite being one of Hauoli Pest Control's most productive technicians, Lankford testified that he believed even a minor accident would get him fired.

"I realized the only way I am not going to lose my job is to make sure nobody finds out what happened. I tried to make the whole situation go away," he said.

Lankford said he used supplies from Home Depot to triple-bag Watanabe's body. At that point, he said he became concerned that she should rest in peace. He decided on Kahana Bay.

"I was trying to think of a place to bury her that would be peaceful, I guess," Lankford said.

However, at Kahana he was confronted by a man who pointed to a memorial of a friend.

"He said she had been murdered there. That really freaked me out," Lankford said.

Fleeing from Kahana he found quiet beach near Chinaman's Hat, he said.

"The only thing I could do was to put her body in the ocean. It would be as peaceful as being buried by the ocean," Lankford said.

Two days later he lied to police.

"I was scared. I was ashamed of what I did, but it was for what I felt was the good reason," Lankford told the court.

Prosecutor Peter Carlisle focused on those lies during his cross examination. He suggested that they prevented concealed evidence that would have proved Lankford's story if it were true.

The cross examination will continue on Thursday.