Ex-guard gets
5 life sentences

The burglar raped a woman and
beat two others; one was 76

By Susan Kreifels
Star-Bulletin

It started with beating his wife, but then the violence went public.

After not complying with five probations from Family Court that started in 1995, Orrel Lui Jr. was still on the streets, feeding his drug habits by stealing.

Three women he didn't know got in his way. One was raped, two were beaten, including a 76-year-old victim.

Yesterday, a 45-year-old woman he sexually assaulted in her Tantalus home said she would be "terrified" if Lui ever walked the streets again.

Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario heard her plea, and handed Lui five concurrent life sentences for sexual assault and kidnapping with the possibility of parole -- what defense attorney Jerry Villanueva called a harsh punishment.

"I feel relief for the public," said the rape victim after the sentencing of the former Halawa Correctional Facility adult corrections officer. "They will be protected if he's kept in prison. He's an extremely violent and dangerous man."

Del Rosario also sentenced Lui to 20 years behind bars for each of seven burglary charges, which normally warrant a maximum 10-year sentence. But the judge said he pushed up the jail time because Lui was a danger to the community.

The rape victim testified at the sentencing yesterday. But Deputy Prosecutor Lori Wada said the 76-year-old beating victim was too terrified to face Lui. The doctor for the other beating victim, a German tourist, faxed written testimony saying his patient was still being treated for post-traumatic stress syndrome and "terrible dreams."

Villanueva said Lui started to "go over the edge" in 1995 at the same time his marriage started falling apart.

Lui found his wife having sex with a co-worker, Villanueva said.

"He never returned to work," the defense attorney said.

"He left his wife and wandered the streets. His only escape was drugs."

Villanueva said Lui's crime spree was a "short span compared with a law-abiding life for 34 years. . . . There was no life taken, no serious physical injury."

In a statement at the hearing, Lui, who pleaded no-contest to all charges on Aug. 4, apologized for "taking away the dignity" of his victims, and said he was in severe depression from personal trauma.

Shoplifting to feed a drug habit led to more "serious crime," he said.

"There was no contentment in my life. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. . . . I'm not a dangerous person," he said.

But Wada said Lui had many chances to reform and did not. In January 1995, Lui started beating his wife, later in front of his children. He failed to comply with his probations, and didn't enroll in drug treatment or take anger management courses. He also violated a temporary restraining order. "He kept slipping through the cracks," Wada said.

By 1996 Lui was shoplifting and burglarizing to buy drugs. In the midst of this, his violence turned against strangers. On Aug. 11, 1996, he raped one woman in her Tantalus home and then stole credit cards and other items before leaving.

"I was terrified he had infected me with AIDS," the victim said, adding that her training had enabled her to remain calm and probably saved her life.

On Aug. 21, he beat up the 76-year-old woman in Waimanalo. "He had a choke hold on her," Wada said. "He dragged her into the house and slammed her head on the ground. Her son jumped on him."

He later saw the German tourist going into the Waimanalo house where she was staying. He got into the house and started to beat her. The victim's 15-year-old son grabbed a pot and drove Lui away.