Ireland suspect
pleads not guilty
His mother says he was
By Rod Thompson
home with the family at the
time of the killing
Star-BulletinHILO -- Frank Pauline Jr. pleaded not guilty this morning to the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of Dana Ireland on Christmas Eve, 1991. Outside the court, his mother, Patricia, made an extensive statement that her son was with her and other family members at the time of the attack.
She also said she has given police the name of person who participated in the attack and later told her son about it.
Judge Riki May Amano set trial for Jan. 19, 1998. She ordered prosecution and defense attorneys and law enforcement officers not to discuss the case with the news media, and told the lawyers to inform all witnesses about the order, although it does not directly apply to them.
Dana Ireland, 23, was found badly injured at a remote spot on the Puna Coast in 1991, even before her mangled bicycle was found at another spot about six miles away.
Because there were no phones in the area, medical attention was slow in getting to her. She died that night.
Pauline, 24, who is serving time for unrelated crimes, previously told a Big Island newspaper that he was present during the attack. He was indicted Tuesday.
But his mother said police got the story wrong.
She said he met a friend in Hawaiian Beaches some time after the attack to smoke crack cocaine.
She admitted he has a drug problem, and said she twice turned him in to police for drug use.
The friend told Frank Pauline he was one of three young men involved in the incident, Patricia Pauline said.
He told Pauline the three were out driving, came upon Ireland, and began harassing her.
"Somehow there was an accident," Patricia Pauline said.
The young men put her in their car to take her for help, but the driver "freaked out," and the men dumped her body.
The mother said Frank Pauline tried to tell police this story because they already suspected his brother, John. The police wouldn't believe him until he said he was there, Patricia Pauline said. But he did not mean he was at the scene of the assault, because he was home with his family and friends at the time, she said.
