HILO -- Police have confirmed that two men found shot to death in Volcano were Mexican nationals, identifying them as Armando Renteria Hernandez, 23, and his brother, Arturo Renteria Hernandez, 35. 2 slain on Big Isle
were MexicansThey were found Saturday at a rental house, each with a single, small-caliber bullet wound in his head. The case remains under investigation, and police have not disclosed a motive for the slayings.
The men were identified through fingerprints faxed by police in Mexico, Big Island police said. Mexican police said the two men were from Xalisco Nayarit, Mexico.
Hilo bookbinder Jesus Sanchez, who serves periodically as a court translator and cultural consultant for cases involving Hispanics, said "Xalisco Nayarit" is an improbable name, because it combines the names of two Mexican states.
He said the state of Nayarit is known in the Hispanic community on the Big Island as a source of black tar heroin distributed here by the "Nayarit mafia."
Police have said they found no evidence of drugs at the house where the victims were found.
State Deputy Attorney General Ricky Roy Damerville, who served previously as a Big Island prosecutor, confirmed that the term "Nayarit mafia" is known in law enforcement circles.
"Most of the heroin and narcotics on the Big Island since 1992 has been brought by individuals connected with Nayarit, Mexico," Damerville said.
He said the amounts of money involved are large.
A gram of heroin that sold for $60 to $160 in California would sell for $400 on the Big Island.
WAILUKU -- State officials say there was no apparent reason for a Maui man to attack and kill an endangered nene on the Maui Sandalwood Golf Course at Waikapu Wednesday. Man faces two charges
for killing nene on MauiThe man, identified as Terry Purpus, hit the native goose several times, killing it, witnesses told state Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement officers.
Purpus was charged with violating state laws against cruelty to animals and killing an endangered bird, Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman Cliff Inn said.
Purpus was released on $500 bail for the cruelty charge and $100 bail for the endangered species charge.
WASHINGTON -- Hawaii is a better place to raise a family than most states, according to a survey released here yesterday. Isles rank 14th in U.S.
as good family placeHawaii ranked 14th among the states in the study by the Children's Rights Council, a nonprofit child advocacy organization.
The ranking was based on nine factors: high school graduation rate, crime rate, births to unwed mothers, teen pregnancy rate, divorce rate, child poverty rate, infant mortality rate, the number of low birth weight babies and the number of single parents.
The top-ranked areas in the Children's Rights Council survey were North Dakota, Vermont, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Iowa.
The lowest-ranked were Washington, D.C., Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and New Mexico.
An unusually high number of police dispatchers have been calling in sick this past week, making supervisors look at the need to fill vacant positions. Sick calls cut staff
of police dispatchers"I guess any problems that are coming up right now are because for a long time, maybe years, we've been working under short staff," said acting Major William Chur, heading the police Communications Division.
"I can't emphasize strongly enough that it was not an organized sick-out," Chur said.
The fiscal year has ended with $40 million more than state officials had anticipated. State's fiscal year ends
with $40 million extraDeputy Budget Director Neal Miyahira said yesterday that the Department of Accounting and General Services hasn't yet provided a detailed breakdown of where the funds that "lapsed," or carried over, came from.
Miyahira said the $40 million means the state's annual cash carry-over is $131.6 million, instead of $91.6 million.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffFour people were injured last night when their van was struck by a fire truck heading for a Sand Island boat fire. Fire truck headed for job
collides with van; 4 hurtThe Kuakini ladder company, heading Ewa on North School Street, had siren wailing and horn blasting as it approached the intersection with Houghtailing Street.
The mauka-bound van, driven by a youth with a learner's permit, entered the intersection on a green light into the truck's path, police said.
The light had just turned green, said Robert Andrews of Kaneohe, who witnessed the crash from a corner filling station.
"The car in the right lane was stopped; the van was in the center lane going about 30 miles an hour."
The driver's father was in the front passenger seat, and his brother and sister were passengers in the rear seat, police said.
Firefighters from the truck used their equipment to pry open the doors of the van, Andrews said.
The injured were taken by ambulance to Queen's Hospital. None was seriously injured, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
CrimeStoppers received three tips this week that led to arrests. CrimeStoppers tips
lead to three arrestsPolice received a tip that Russell Davidson, a man suspected of robbing the Kapiolani branch of First Hawaiian Bank on Monday, was drinking at a bar downtown.
Police arrived at Club Hinode on South Beretania Street and arrested Davidson, who appeared before a federal magistrate this week on the bank robbery charges.
Two fugitives from this month's Ten Most Wanted poster were arrested on Wednesday after police received separate tips on the locations of David Kahui Jr., wanted for a parole retake warrant, and Paul Gouveia, wanted for a probation revocation warrant.
HONAUNAU, Hawaii -- Kona police are holding three men and a woman in connection with the beating of a man his neighbor thought had stolen his property. Four arrested in beating
of man they called thiefPolice are also seeking four other suspects in the case.
Following the beating Tuesday, the 26-year-old victim from Honaunau was treated at Kona Hospital for a broken right arm, a broken nose, and a cut on his head.
KALAPANA, Hawaii -- Acting on a tip, police found three escaped Kulani Correctional Facility inmates hiding in an old lava tube in Kalapana yesterday and arrested them. Inmates who fled July 14
captured in lava tubeThe inmates, identified as Robert Grammer, 33, Punefu Kapeli, 33, and Leslie Okumura, 48, had escaped from the prison, 26 miles away, on July 14.
HILO -- Police are asking the public's help in locating a man who has been missing from his home since July 1. Police seek help
looking for missing Hilo manHe is identified as Terry Hornbeck, 36, of Ululani Street, described as African-American, bald, 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds.
He has a heart-shaped tattoo with an unknown name on the left side of his chest.
Anyone with information on him is asked to call police at 961-2211.
HILO -- Police have identified a man whose partially decomposed body was found Monday as Eric Shawn Pursley, 45, who lived in places around the Big Island. Police identify the body
of man found on Big IslePolice said the man had been dead up to four weeks when found in the rural Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision, and an autopsy was not able to determine the cause of death. Foul play is not suspected.
The Honolulu Fire Department hazardous materials crew was summoned to Kaaawa yesterday to deal with an acid spill. HFD crew removes acid
spilled by man in KaaawaA Hiiaka Road resident tipped over a 55-gallon drum while cleaning his yard. He called for help when the liquid seeping from the container became a fuming, bubbling patch at the edge of the public roadway.
Capt. Carter Davis said the HAZMAT crew neutralized the spill with soda ash. A contractor will be brought in to remove soil from a 10-foot square area, he said.
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