Accused murderer Kirk Lankford's story that he tossed Masumi Watanabe's body in the ocean after she died accidentally of a massive head wound "shocked" the victim's father when he learned of it Wednesday night, family friend Robert Iinuma said yesterday.

Iinuma, who maintains a Web site here dedicated to the memory of the 21-year-old woman, listened in court Wednesday to the defense version of what happened to Watanabe and then called the young woman's father in Japan to tell him what he had heard.

"He was shocked," Iinuma said of Hideichi Watanabe's reaction.

"I hesitated to call him," said Iinuma, "but I really thought someone should let him know."

Hideichi Watanabe and his wife, Fumiko, attended the first week of Lankford's murder trial this month but had to return to Japan to care for a sick parent, Iinuma said.

The couple have periodically visited Hawai'i since their daughter disappeared April 12, 2007, joining in local efforts to find the remains of the woman whom police and prosecutors say was murdered by Lankford.

Fumiko Watanabe testified tearfully as a prosecution witness in Lankford's trial, saying that her daughter was staying with relatives here in 2007 as part of a family effort to help the young woman become more outgoing and independent.

The Watanabes plan to return here for a memorial service to be held at Kawaiaha'o Church next month on the anniversary of her disappearance, said Iinuma.

The couple said in a press conference late last year that they still hoped to find their daughter's remains and return them to her home on Sado Island.

Iinuma said Hideichi Watanabe Wednesday night "was really downhearted to hear his (Lankford's) version of events."

Lankford will testify later in the trial that he accidentally struck Watanabe with his truck, injuring her slightly, according to defense attorney Donald Wilkerson.

While Lankford was trying to drive Watanabe home, she became agitated and jumped from the moving truck, suffering a fatal injury when she hit her head on a roadside boulder, Wilkerson told jurors Wednesday.

Fearing that he would lose his job and his family, Lankford, 23, a pest control technician, hid Watanabe's body in his truck and continued his job duties the rest of the day. That night, he put the body in a plastic garbage bag and sealed it with duct tape, then tried unsuccessfully to bury the remains, Wilkerson said.

He then disposed of the body by carrying it offshore in shallow waters near Kualoa Ranch and leaving it there, according to Wilkerson.

In the trial yesterday, Dr. James Navin, a forensic pathologist called as a witness for the defense, said that, based on Lankford's description of Watanabe's physical condition after she jumped from the truck, the young woman "was clinically dead" and beyond medical help.

In a brief cross-examination, Prosecutor Peter Carlisle pointed out that Navin was relying on nothing other than Lankford's word.

"You took those statements at face value?" Carlisle asked.

"Correct," Navin answered.

The trial goes on break until March 31 and is expected to conclude within days after it resumes.

Navin is expected to return to the stand to address earlier testimony from Honolulu Chief Medical Examiner Kanthi de Alwis, who testified that several small scratches and abrasions photographed by police on Lankford's hands and fingers after he was arrested were "consistent with fingernail marks."

Yesterday one juror in the case failed to appear when the trial opened in the morning. Presiding Judge Karl Sakamoto replaced the missing man with one of four alternate jurors who have listened to all the evidence in the trial.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.