Calling accused murderer Kirk Lankford "narcissistic," "manipulative" and "cunning," city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle asked jurors in closing arguments yesterday to consider the former pest control worker a "false witness" intent on covering his tracks.

"This case has lasted weeks. There have been dozens of witnesses. But in the final analysis, this is not a complicated case. In many ways, it is simplicity itself. Do you believe the defendant, Kirk Lankford, is a credible witness or a false witness?" Carlisle said. "There is a reason why the defendant intentionally covered up what happened on Pupukea Road. The reason ... was to cover up the terrible crime he committed."

Lankford's attorney, Don Wilkerson, countered by bashing the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses and by taking jurors again through Lankford's version of what occurred on April 12, 2007, when 21-year-old Japanese national Masumi Watanabe was killed.

"Mr. Lankford told you what happened here. He was remorseful. His voice was as low as it could go. He had as much remorse as a man could have," Wilkerson said. "What happened was Mr. Lankford accidentally hit Ms. Watanabe with the side of his truck. The shy, introverted young woman became scared out of her mind and dove out of the truck."

Lankford, 23, has testified that he tried to drive Watanabe home after he accidentally sideswiped her with his Hauoli Pest Control truck as she stood by the side of Pupukea Road. He said she had only minor injuries after the accident, but died when she became frantic and jumped out of his moving truck, hitting her head on a rock on the side of the road.

Fearful of losing his job, Lankford said, he then put Watanabe's body into his truck and completed a day of work. That night, he testified, he took the body out to sea wrapped in plastic bags.

Watanabe's body has not been found.

About 40 members of the public crowded into the courtroom for the closing arguments, which started about 9:15 a.m. and wrapped up by 4 p.m., with a lunch break and recesses further drawing out the proceedings.

Lankford, dressed in a black pinstriped suit, occasionally shook his head during Carlisle's closing arguments, but otherwise watched stoically or took notes.

Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto told jurors to consider three different alternatives for finding Lankford guilty: murder by commission, or intentionally killing someone; murder by omission, or failing to help someone at the scene of the crime and knowing that without help they will die; or manslaughter.

The 12-member jury must come to a unanimous decision. Jurors will start deliberations today.

Carlisle spoke for more than an hour, using a PowerPoint presentation to guide the jurors through his key argument — that Lankford's testimony of what happened can't be believed because of the evidence, his false statements to police, co-workers and friends and his account of how he disposed of Watanabe's body.

"You want motive? His job," Carlisle told jurors, in his rebuttal to the defense's closing arguments. "Get rid of her. He keeps his job."

The prosecution has argued Lankford's story doesn't add up, and has questioned why Lankford would go to such lengths to hide her death and dispose of her body if she was killed by accident.

"He's gotten rid of a lot of critical evidence in this case," Carlisle said.

Opening statements in the Lankford case began March 4, and through the course of the trial, jurors have been taken to several key sites on the North Shore, including the last place Watanabe was seen alive, the spot where Lankford was seen digging a hole, and the Pupukea Foodland, where Lankford bought cleaner, paper towels and garbage bags.

The prosecution has tried to whittle away at Lankford's defense by calling witnesses who testified to seeing Watanabe getting into Lankford's truck and apparently arguing with him.

An accident reconstructionist, Ken Baker, testified that the description Lankford gave of how Watanabe was struck, then jumped out of the truck and hit her head on a rock was "a physical impossibility." He said she would have suffered serious cuts or broken bones in the initial accident. And, he added, it would have been difficult for Watanabe to jump out of the moving truck.

In his closing arguments, Carlisle also urged jurors to consider Lankford's initial false accounts about what happened the day Watanabe disappeared. Lankford first told police he had never seen Watanabe and she had not been in his truck. He told his supervisor, a friend and a co-worker that a bird had caused the crack in his windshield that required its replacement.

"There is no reason to believe Kirk Matthew Lankford," Carlisle said.

But Wilkerson said Lankford has told the truth, though it was difficult for him.

"He was ashamed to tell you what happened," he said.

Wilkerson added that though the details about the disposal of Watanabe's body are gruesome, they do not make Lankford guilty of second-degree murder.

Lankford testified that after Watanabe hit her head on a rock and died, he put her body in a covered compartment in the bed of his truck for about 12 hours. By the time he transferred the remains from his work truck to his personal pickup truck, he testified, the body had become "pretty stiff" as rigor mortis set in and had begun to smell bad.

Watanabe, 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, could not fit lengthwise into the heavy-duty garbage bags Lankford purchased, so he used duct tape to keep her knees in a bent position. He then sealed the bag with duct tape, he testified, and took her out to sea.

Wilkerson said that what Lankford did is a "shame," but not murder.

"The only rational explanation has been Mr. Lankford's explanation," he said.

Wilkerson also disputed the prosecution's testimony, especially that of Baker. Wilkerson said Baker reached a conclusion without having the facts.

"Mr. Baker is a hired gun," Wilkerson said.

He also told jurors to put themselves in Lankford's shoes. Though it sounds insane for someone to dispose of the body of someone instead of calling the police, he said, Lankford was a young person with a lot of responsibilities who needed to keep his job for his family's sake.

"Mr. Lankford was a 22-year-old man with a 19-year-old wife and a 6-month-old baby who needed medical insurance," Wilkerson said, wrapping up his presentation. "He made a bad decision."