Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Thursday, October 2, 1997

Maui murder suspect
defies judge's warning

WAILUKU -- Maui Circuit Judge Boyd Mossman today warned an accused double murderer he will be found in contempt of court each time he fails to stand as the judge enters the courtroom.

Daniel Kosi, 24, refused to stand even after Mossman's warning.

A person convicted of contempt of court could face one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Mossman consolidated the cases of Kosi and two other defendants, Jennifer Kong, 18, and Anthony Carvalho, 21, and scheduled their trial in connection with two murders to begin on Feb. 2.

Kosi, who is being held at Halawa Medium Security Facility and transported to Maui for each hearing, is charged in the murder of kickboxer Eric Vinge at his Paukukalo home on Aug. 3.

He, Kong and Carvalho are charged in the kidnapping and attempted murder of Abra Pearsall, a witness to the Vinge shooting.

Kosi and Kong, who were in a south Maui condominium where a 24-hour police standoff occurred, are also charged with the kidnapping and murder of hostage Aisha Tolentino, 18, of Lanai.

Kosi is also charged with kidnapping and attempted murder of another hostage, Chad Caldito.

Kong is charged in the kidnapping of Caldito.

Sprint Hawaii says some
Stones tickets still available

Tickets for the Rolling Stones' Jan. 23 concert were still available today after confusion and complaints surfaced yesterday, the first day of a sales promotion for Sprint Hawaii customers.

Lisa Ontai, Sprint Hawaii spokeswoman, said 10,129 tickets were sold yesterday, leaving close to 5,000 still available. Ontai said calls should get through more easily today with the initial rush over.

Some fans complained of long waits and cutoffs from ticket agents when tickets went on sale 6 a.m. yesterday. Some non-Sprint fans called a local radio show and said they had purchased tickets by calling mainland Ticketmaster offices directly. Or they called the 1-888-FALL TOUR number but didn't say they were from Hawaii.

But Mark Bonavia, corporate spokesman for Sprint, which is sponsoring the tour, said he believed it was impossible to buck the system.

Ontai said most complaints at the local Sprint office yesterday were from people who couldn't get their calls through because lines were busy. Or once they did get through on 1-888-FALL TOUR, they were later disconnected from Ticketmaster agents.

"I can't get through, I can't get through" were the main complaints, Ontai said. "It's really because of the volume of calls coming through. It's kind of expected in a promotion like this."

The ticket procedure for Sprint customers: Call 1-888-FALL TOUR. Non-Sprint customers can call 841-4144, sign up as a customer, and Sprint will transfer the call to Ticketmaster.

Police commission favors
5-year terms for chief

The Honolulu Police Commission is backing a move to establish five-year appointment terms for the city's police chief, with members saying it would encourage greater responsiveness to public concerns.

The panel yesterday voted 5-0 to give its qualified support to a proposed City Charter amendment that creates the terms, as well as requiring the chief to submit a five-year plan and undergo an annual performance review by the commission.

"It calls for greater accountability not only on the part of the police chief, but on the part of the commission as well," said Chairman Ronald Taketa.

Police Chief Michael Nakamura, who sat through the commission meeting, said he was disappointed by the vote and predicted it would politicize his position, making future chiefs wary of disagreeing with commissioners or elected officials.

He doubted whether he would have retained his own job for seven years if the plan already was in effect.

"The chief should be concerned about doing his job, not about keeping his job," Nakamura said. "That's the bottom line."

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Info] section for subscription information.

---

Police/Fire


By Star-Bulletin staff

Police ask help
in homicide case

A 58-year-old man who was beaten to death in the bedroom of his Hawaii Kai apartment may have returned home in the company of someone he met in Waikiki, police said.

Police are asking anyone who may have seen Kenneth Brewer after 9 p.m. Tuesday to call homicide detectives Anderson Hee or Larry Tamashiro (529-3115) or CrimeStoppers (955-8300).

Brewer, who worked for Sheraton Hotels from 1969 to 1987, left his home wearing an aloha shirt, shorts and slippers. He drove a four-door, white Lexus with license number FFZ-916.

Brewer may have returned home between 3 and 4 a.m.

His partially clad body was found face up on the floor yesterday at 6:40 a.m. by a roommate.

Police have recovered fingerprints in the apartment at 531 Hahaione St., Hee said.

"The medical examiner's office determined the cause of death as a blunt trauma to the head," Hee added.

Gunman gets cash
at Waikiki hotel

Police were investigating a robbery early today at a Waikiki hotel.

Police said shortly after 3 a.m., a man with a gun approached the front desk clerk demanding money at the Ocean Resort Hotel at 175 Paoakalani Ave. The man fled after receiving an undisclosed sum of money.

Hotel employees said there was no one in the lobby at the time of the robbery and no one was injured.

Pedestrian, hit
in Ewa Beach, dies

A 73-year-old woman died when she was struck by a car in Ewa Beach.

Police said the car was traveling west on Fort Weaver Road when the driver, a 30-year-old-man with a 37-year-old passenger in the car, hit the woman about 5:30 a.m. yesterday near Kilaha Street.

The woman was taken to St. Francis-West Hospital and died less than an hour later.

See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Info] section for subscription information.