Housemate saw dancer,
husband beat woman

They reportedly tried to seal her mouth
and nostrils with SuperGlue

By Joan Conrow
Star-Bulletin

LIHUE -- Monica Alves Peralto was enraged by the theft of her clothing when she and her husband, Mitchell, allegedly beat her cousin and threw her into the trunk of their car the morning of July 11.

Joanna Silva testified in Kauai District Court yesterday that Alves Peralto, 31, was infuriated that Kimberly Washington Cohen, 23, had stolen clothing and other belongings from her home while she was in jail on pending criminal property damage and drug charges. Silva said Alves Peralto felt betrayed because she had taken her cousin in.

Silva said she and two housemates watched for nearly two hours as the couple harassed, beat and kicked Washington Cohen, made her strip and tried to seal her mouth and nostrils with SuperGlue before bundling her in a blanket and throwing her into the trunk of her car. Silva said the woman had been begging for mercy throughout the beating and "you could still hear her" as she was taken from the house.

Based on evidence in yesterday's preliminary hearing, Alves Peralto and Mitchell Peralto, 38, will stand trial in Circuit Court on charges they murdered and kidnapped Washington Cohen. The woman's body was found July 12 in a shallow grave in a Wailua Houselots pasture about a mile from the Kalama Street home where she allegedly was beaten.

Police Lt. Bill Ching said autopsy results indicate the woman died of suffocation after a plastic bag had been taped over her head. He said she also had been beaten badly.

Silva testified that she and her housemates did not call police during the beating because "I didn't want to get involved." She said that even though she saw the couple inflict extensive blows, including Peralto kicking his wife's cousin in the head with a steel-toed boot, she did not think they would kill the woman.

Ching said residents called police about an hour after Washington Cohen was taken from the home. He said Alves Peralto was arrested that afternoon when she returned to the home and Peralto was picked up the next morning after an informant showed them the grave.

Silva said Alves Peralto also believed Washington Cohen had been working as a confidential informant and had tipped off police last month that Alves Peralto, who had pending criminal charges, planned to leave the island.

She was arrested at the airport and had been jailed until the day before Washington Cohen was killed.

Alves Peralto is being held without bail. Her husband's bond is $250,000.

Alves Peralto gained notoriety in late 1995 when allegations that she had been sexually fondled and photographed while being held at the Lihue Police Station led to the firing of three officers and resignation of two.