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WAILUKU -- Gunpowder residue found on a dead Kipahulu resident supports the charge that he was murdered by Edward Dean, Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Jenkins told a Maui Circuit Court jury yesterday. Maui murder trial
deliberations beginBy Gary T. Kubota
Star-BulletinIn closing arguments, Jenkins said the residue found on 24-year-old Seth Schimberg's palms indicated that he was raising his hands in defense against Dean, who shot him with a .32-caliber revolver.
Jurors were to begin deliberation today.
Dean, 45, held in jail on $700,000 bail, faces several charges, including second-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder in wounding Schimberg's girlfriend, Nani Berg, and firing a shot at Harry Perry Jr.
Dean, his teen-age son and a number of other people lived as tenants on the 47-acre property in Kipahulu owned by Berg's mother, Helen Hoopai.
The dispute stemmed from a $1,000 payment received by Dean while living on the property.
Dean testified that on the rainy night of Nov. 29, 1991, Schimberg had struck him with a wooden stick and was about to strike him again, when he fired in self-defense outside a community kitchen.
Dean said he had been struck by Berg with a flashlight earlier that night and thought Berg was carrying a weapon when he fired to scare her and accidentally shot her in the arm.
He said he never fired at Perry.
Defense attorney Susan Arnett argued that the pattern of gunpowder residue was consistent with her client's story.
Arnett said Schimberg's palms could have received gunpowder residue when he raised his hands wielding the stick.
She said Schimberg demanded money from Dean and threatened eviction.
"Things were really at a breaking point," Arnett said. "He is not guilty of murdering Seth Schimberg."
Jenkins said Dean planned the killing as early as Thanksgiving and used his son to corroborate his testimony.
"The story does not hang together," Jenkins said. "It's not believable."
Jenkins said Dean had a choice and could have returned to his living quarters but instead waited for Schimberg outside the community kitchen.
Dean's 13-year-old son, who called the "911" emergency telephone number after the shooting, told a dispatcher that people were trying to kill his father, but the son never asked for the police or ambulance.
"Is this someone calling for help? No, this is someone documenting a story," Jenkins said.
Jenkins said John Belna, a tenant, saw Dean confront Schimberg on the path and pull out a gun.
According to Jenkins, Belna heard Dean say, "What are you going to do now, Seth?"