Man 'threw wife's body overboard" on cruise ship
A man has been charged over the death of his wife on a cruise ship seven years after her body was found off the Italian coast.
Lonnie Kocontes, 55, is accused of strangling Micki Kanesaki to death on board the ship before throwing her body overboard in the early hours of 26 May, 2006.
Her remains were found floating near Paola, Italy, on 27 May, 2006. The pair had been living together in California, despite being divorced for five years.
Prosecutors are accusing Kocontes of killing Ms Kanesaki for financial gain, reports Sky News.
Italian police investigated Kocontes at the time of Ms Kanesaki's death, but he was not arrested, according to the Inquirer.
Another investigation began in 2008 after Kocontes began transferring more than $1 million from Kanesaki's bank accounts into joint accounts he shared with her, reports Yahoo News.
He was arrested in Florida in February, and pleaded not guilty to murder in May, and the case was dismissed.
A judge ruled prosecutors could refile charges, and Kocontes, of Florida, was indicted by an Orange County grand jury in California. He did not enter a plea during his Superior Court arraignment on Monday 17 June.
The charge of murder for financial gain carries a minimum sentence of life in prison and a potential death penalty.
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