Killer in halfway Police arrested a convicted killer for attempted murder yesterday after he allegedly tried to push his halfway house roommate out of a second-story window.
house in trouble again
Henry Danielson Jr., convicted
of killing 2 in an auto accident,
arrested after attackBy Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comHenry Danielson Jr., 36, was convicted of manslaughter in 1987 in the traffic deaths of a brother and sister while driving drunk and without a license.
He has been living at the Victory Ohana halfway house in Iwilei. His 15-year minimum prison sentence ends in 2002.
Police said Danielson attacked his roommate, an unidentified 34-year-old male, for no apparent reason and was yelling that he would "kill" him. Police said the victim tried to escape by running on the bed but that Danielson pushed him through a louvered window.
Police said the impact broke seven louvers but that the victim did not go all the way through and remained standing half on his bed and halfway out the window. Police said the bed then slid away from the wall, causing Danielson to fall and allowing the victim to escape.
Victory Ohana personnel said the incident was unfortunate but that it was important to try and integrate Danielson back into society before his prison time was up next year."You always take risks when you're dealing with people with anger and or drug problems," said Victory Ohana spokesman Gary Shields. "But this proves that our system works. It's better this happened here, because we have the ability to contain him and send him back to prison if he's not ready."
Danielson was enrolled in the Dual Diagnosis prison program. Shields said 98 percent of those enrolled have substance abuse and mental health problems.
Danielson was convicted of killing Duane Hosaki, 15, and his 12-year-old sister Denise on July 25, 1986. At the time, police said, Danielson was driving a car up to 100 mph when he slammed into the back of a sedan carrying the Hosaki family along Kalanianaole Highway in Niu Valley.
Danielson was later found outside his car near Sandy Beach. His blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.22 percent, more than twice the legal limit at the time.
Danielson pleaded no contest to two manslaughter charges and was found guilty of terroristic threatening for an incident involving two motorcycle police officers on the H-1 freeway.
Just minutes before the Hosaki crash, Danielson had sped between the two officers at 60 mph because he said he was afraid he would get pulled over after drinking 14 beers and smoking marijuana.
Acting Circuit Judge Edwin Sasaki originally set Danielson's maximum sentence at 42 years and 180 days for the two counts of manslaughter and 11 other criminal charges including driving under the influence and driving without a license.
The Hawaii Paroling Authority ruled that Danielson would have to serve at least 25 years before he would be eligible for parole. Several years later however, then-Circuit Judge Steven Levinson, now a state Supreme Court justice, reduced Danielson's maximum to 20 years because he said it was already twice the normal length for manslaughter, which at the time was punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Based on the new maximum sentence, the parole board reduced Danielson's minimum term to 15 years.
Shields said the focus should not be how long convicted felons like Danielson spend in prison, but rather what they do while they are there. At some point, Shields said, no matter how long the term is, those in prison must return to society, meaning at some point there has to be a time of controlled integration.
"If they are being paroled without that process of transition, then they're dead," said Shields. "They'll max out their terms, and they're going to be back on the streets doing the same thing. In this case it didn't work, and now he is back in prison and probably going to face charges again ... but this is the real battleground, and for every guy like him, we've got dozens who do make it."