Confessions
By Rod Thompson
admissible in
murder trial
Star-BulletinHILO -- Confessions made by Tetsuya "Grizzly" Yamada to the shooting deaths of his ex-wife and stepdaughter in 1996 can be used against him in his murder trial, which starts Monday, Judge Greg Nakamura has ruled.
With one exception, the judge turned down a request by defense attorney Michael Ebesugawa to throw out a series of brief statements made by Yamada at the scene of the crime, and three detailed statements made at the police station.
Police found the bodies of Yamada's ex-wife, Carla Russell, 50, and his stepdaughter, Rachel DeCambra, 23, at a house in the Waiakea Uka area of Hilo. Officer Clyde Victorine testified earlier that Yamada, 61, approached him holding a shotgun over his head while his wife, Regina Haili, walked in front of him.
Yamada said that his stepdaughter's boyfriend had left the area, that Yamada shot the victims with the shotgun and that the two were dead.
Nakamura threw out only the statement about the two being dead, saying Victorine should have read Yamada his rights after Yamada said he shot the victims with the shotgun.
The three statements at the police department were made after Yamada had been advised of his rights each time, and can be used against him, Nakamura ruled.
Yamada and his ex-wife lived in separate buildings on the same property.
In the statements at the station, Yamada said he heard his ex-wife calling him a "f--- Jap."
"I guess I must have lost my head," he said.
He remembers loading his shotgun and walking to the other house, but does not remember shooting the victims, he told police.
According to records, Detective Edwin Tanaka asked him, "Do you know if you shot Carla and Rachel?"
Yamada answered, "No, but I must have, because I was the only one there with a gun."Yamada was given a series of mental exams to see if he was fit to stand trial, but the results were not made public.
