Kauai man pleads not guilty in October death of bicyclist
LIHUE » A Kauai man faces a second-degree negligent-homicide charge after allegedly running into a bicyclist and then leaving the scene of the accident.
Nyles Muramoto, 55, of Lihue was indicted late last month for allegedly causing the Oct. 23 death of Steve Scarlett, a bicyclist who was found in a ditch along Kuhio Highway near the Kauai Community Correctional Facility. Muramoto pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday and has been released on $20,000 bail.
In 1979, Muramoto was convicted of negligent homicide in the death of a woman, receiving a deferred sentence.
Muramoto's judge for arraignment this week, George Masuoka, was his lawyer in the first negligent-homicide case. The trial, to be heard by Judge Kathleen Watanabe, is scheduled for June 26.
According to police sources, Scarlett was found after Muramoto's attorney made contact with police and told them there might have been an accident near the jail and that there might be a body in the ditch next to a bicycle propped up against the guardrail.
Kauai County Prosecutor Craig De Costa, though, would not comment on any evidence that might have been collected.
Scarlett was found just three days shy of the 27th anniversary of Muramoto's first accident, which killed Marie Melton Jones. No further information was available on the 1979 case.
Court records show Muramoto also has a 1985 drunken-driving conviction.