Newswatch
By Star-Bulletin Staff
Thursday, October 17, 1996
Lance Cpl. Reese Boone, 24, was to be released immediately from the Naval Brig on Ford Island and returned to duty at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base.
Boone and four other Marines were accused of the May 7 execution-style shooting of Lance Cpl. Juan Guerrero, 20.
Navy Cmdr. Carole Gaasche, who presided over Boone's Article 32 hearing - the military's equivalent of a grand jury - recommended that Boone not face a general court-martial because of insufficient corroborating evidence against him.
Brig. Gen. David F. Bice, Kaneohe base commander, followed Gaasche's recommendation.
Boone was not allowed to talk to the media because he remains a potential witness in the case.
Defense attorneys said they hadn't seen the investigative report so they could not comment on it.
"We feel that it's the correct decision and we're satisfied with it," said Marine Capt. Robert Kenney.
Kenny and Navy Lt. Kevin Rosenberg said they doubted that the command would consider other proceedings against Boone. They wouldn't comment on Boone as a potential witness in the other cases. Prosecuting attorneys who are representing the government in the other four cases would not comment.
From January through July 1996, the overall crime rate decreased by 6.5 percent compared with the same period last year.
Property crimes - burglary, larceny-theft and auto theft - were 7 percent lower.
Burglaries dropped from 6,014 in 1995 to 5,267 this year while larceny-theft is down 6.6 percent, from 27,324 reported cases to 25,508. Auto theft decreased 1.3 percent, from 4,036 to 3,985.
While property crimes went down, violent crime is up by 5.7 percent, due largely to a 14.4 percent increase in robberies.
Numbers for murder, forcible rape and aggravated assaults, however, were down.
"We strongly feel the enforcement efforts of police coupled with citizen participation through community policing and programs such as neighborhood security watch and citizen patrols have made a difference in our communities," acting police Chief Lee Donohue said.
The two apparently were riding in a car past Hina and Hoomakoa streets when shots were fired at them, police said. The incident is believed to be gang-related.
One male was injured in the leg, the other in the ankle.
The helicopter went into the water about six miles off Chinaman's hat, said Capt. John Milliman, Kaneohe Marine Base spokesman.
The crewmen were pulled from the water by Navy and Marine crews, he said.
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