City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle yesterday continued presenting pieces of the mosaic of circumstantial evidence that he says will prove Kirk Matthew Lankford murdered Masumi Watanabe last year.

Although Watanabe's body has never been found, Lankford is accused of killing the shy 23-year-old visitor from Sato Island in Japan and hiding or otherwise disposing of her remains.

Because no body has been found, the case against Lankford, 23, is almost entirely circumstantial.

Jurors in the case heard in detail yesterday from a Mainland expert who testified about global positioning equipment installed on trucks owned by Lankford's employer, Hauoli Pest Control Inc.

The prosecution contends that Lankford, a pest control technician with the company at the time Watanabe disappeared, had her inside his work truck the morning she was last seen while walking along Pupukea Road on O'ahu's North Shore.

Prescription eyeglasses that prosecutors say belonged to the victim were later found by police inside the truck, along with traces of blood that allegedly matched Watanabe's.

The prosecution intends to demonstrate that the geographic locator system on Lankford's work truck will show that it was at specific locations in the North Shore area at specific times on the day Watanabe disappeared.

Also testifying yesterday were two officials from Hauoli Pest Control, manager George "Keoki" Ofsonka, and service manager David Patacsil, who were questioned about a broken windshield on Lankford's truck that Lankford reported the evening of Watanabe's disappearance.

Lankford said "a bird hit the windshield" on the passenger side of the truck while hewas driving on H-2 Freeway the morning of April 12, 2007, Patacsil testified.

Patacsil said that when he examined the truck that evening, he told Lankford the damage "looked different" from windshield damage caused by rocks or other debris.

"I made a comment to him, I said 'I'd hate to see the bird,' " Patacsil testified.

The windshield was replaced and the damaged glass discarded before Lankford was identified by police as a suspect in the case.

Patacsil last month made a drawing of the damage for police. It showed a circular crack in the windshield, about 5 or 6 inches in diameter, with smaller fractures in the glass radiating out from the edge of the circle.

In response to questions from Carlisle, Patacsil said there were no bird feathers visible, nor was there any evidence of blood on the windshield.

Patacsil did say that the interior of the truck was unusually clean when Lankford turned it in for repair that evening.

"Usually his truck had a lot of rubbish in it," Patacsil said.

Hauoli manager Ofsonka testified about the installation of the GPS system on the company's trucks in January of 2007. He said the system was used to keep track of the whereabouts of employees in case there were questions or complaints about their service.

He told Carlisle that if he had been told the truck had been involved in an accident with a person, police would have been notified.

Under questioning from Lankford's lawyer, Donald Wilkerson, Ofsonka said that Lankford had been warned earlier about bad driving and that in January Lankford was told he might be suspended or fired if he didn't improve his submission of work reports.

Wilkerson on Wednesday indicated in his questioning of witnesses that Lankford may have accidentally struck Watanabe when she was walking on the side of the road.

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.