Convicted murderer Kirk Matthew Lankford, 23, faces spending the rest of his life behind bars when the Circuit Court jury that convicted him last month reconvenes next week to consider his sentence.

Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto ruled yesterday that prosecutors will be allowed to introduce evidence of an alleged prior sexual assault by Lankford, as well as allegations of spouse abuse and attacks on cats by Lankford. The evidence will be used to buttress the state's contention that Lankford is so dangerous that he should never be allowed out of prison.

Lankford, a pest control technician, was convicted April 14 of killing Japanese visitor Masumi Watanabe, 21, in April 2007. The second-degree murder charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole, but City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle is seeking an "enhanced" sentence of life without parole.

Sakamoto denied motions by defense lawyer Donald Wilkerson to prohibit introduction of evidence about prior bad acts by Lankford in the sentencing hearing.

But Sakamoto said he will question jurors about their ability to remain impartial when hearing evidence about an earlier alleged sex assault as well as "alleged abuses against cats and against the wife."

The sentencing hearing before a jury is a new procedure mandated by a Hawai'i Supreme Court decision last year. Requests from prosecutors for enhanced sentencing of offenders alleged to be dangers to the community were previously decided by judges. But the high court, following related rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court, said last year that such decisions should be made by juries.

Carlisle tried to use evidence from the 2006 sex assault case against Lankford during the Watanabe murder trial, arguing that both cases showed the same criminal "signature." But Sakamoto ruled the information inadmissible because Lankford was never charged with a crime in the earlier incident.

The alleged victim in the 2006 case told police that she was sexually assaulted by a man driving a Hauoli Pest Control truck. The license plate number she supplied police matched Lankford's work vehicle. But the complainant in that case, an exotic dancer, had a history of drug and alcohol problems and her physical description of her alleged attacker did not precisely match Lankford's appearance.

Lankford used the same vehicle in the Watanabe murder. He testified during the trial that he accidentally struck Watanabe when she stepped in front of his truck while walking along Pupukea Road on O'ahu's North Shore, injuring her slightly.

He claimed that while he was trying to drive her home, she became frantic and jumped from the truck, suffering a fatal head injury when she hit the ground.

Afraid of losing his job, Lankford tried unsuccessfully to bury the body and later dumped it several hundred yards offshore of a Windward O'ahu beach, he testified. The body was never recovered.

Carlisle pointed out before the murder trial started that both Watanabe and the 2006 complainant were petite Asian women and that both were "very vulnerable."

He said evidence from the 2006 case was "absolutely critical to the successful prosecution" of the Watanabe murder trial.

Carlisle lost that argument but still convinced the jury to convict Lankford.