KSBE trial begins
Police reportedly found a bloody saw and knife inside a missing salesman's car that was being driven by a 23-year-old Waialua man. Waialua man booked as suspect
over missing vacuum cleaner salesmanThe man, an experienced pig hunter, was booked at 9:56 last night for second-degree murder. He was initially arrested at 10:16 p.m. Saturday by patrol officers in Haleiwa after he stopped at a store.
There are reports of a confrontation between missing vacuum cleaner salesman Melchor Tabag, 41, of Kaneohe and the suspect Saturday outside the suspect's residence in the 67-100 block of Kanalu Street. Tabag was doing in-home demonstrations before he was reported missing about 11 a.m. Saturday.
Two patrol officers arrested the suspect Saturday night after identifying the missing man's car and observing "odd behavior" by the suspect, police said. The man, who is known to the officers, reportedly was wearing dark glasses at night. When the officers called him by name, he denied his identity, police said.
Dad said he shook baby, officer says
A detective testified today that a father admitted he shook his baby on three occasions in March, the last time holding his 6-week-old son upside down by the ankles and swinging him.The hospitalized baby now suffers from severe brain damage and is blind and deaf.Father Samita William Hall Sr. faces attempted murder in the second degree. At a preliminary hearing today, District Judge I. Norman Lewis ruled there was probable cause in the case and set April 12 for Hall's arraignment and plea.
"He told me he threw the baby up a couple of times and spun him around," testified Detective Jerry Trinidad. "After he set the baby down, the baby wasn't the same. The first thing he (Hall) noticed was the baby's eyes rolled back."
Hall, 22, of Laie, told Trinidad that the baby, Samita Jr., wouldn't eat and vomited, the detective said. On March 17 the baby was taken to the hospital. Public defender Debra Loy said the baby also allegedly fell out of a hospital bed, bumped heads hard with Hall, and was hit over the head with a spoon by a sibling.
Man who lost wife at sea leaves hospital
WAILUKU -- A California man who says his wife was fatally bitten by a shark after a wind-blown kayak carried them off the Valley Isle has been released from Maui Memorial Hospital.Manouchehr Monazzami-Taghadomi, 39, of Sunnyvale, Calif., flew with police on a helicopter to Kahoolawe last week to retrace his ordeal and the death of his 29-old-wife, Nahid Davoodabai.
Tengan said Monazzami, who left the hospital Thursday, planned to go to Iran to visit his wife's relatives.
Funds raised to send student to Europe
A Kamehameha Homes Tenant Association fund-raising drive exceeded its goal, so 16-year-old Jordan Salis will be going to Europe this summer as one of Hawaii's People-to-People Ambassador Program representatives."We've raised over $6,000," said Salis, a Castle High School junior. "War (in Yugoslavia) is the only thing that might hold up the trip.
"If all goes well, I'm tentatively scheduled to leave June 11." Salis, who resides at the public housing project in Kalihi, said he was thankful for the support.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Search] [Info] section for subscription information.
Police, Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffPolice / Fire
Anahola man Kauai's second traffic fatality
ANAHOLA, Kauai -- An Anahola man was killed early this morning when he apparently lost control of his car, which struck a guardrail and flipped over.Kauai police identified the driver as Neil Pike, 28, of Anahola. Pike was driving south on Kuhio Highway at about 2 a.m. when his car left the road, police said
. Speed may have been a factor and an autopsy is scheduled to determine whether alcohol was involved, according to investigating officers.
The fatality was the second on Kauai this year compared with one a year ago.
Pedestrian critical after being hit by car
A 30-year-old woman pedestrian suffered a serious head injury yesterday when she was struck by a car near Ala Moana Center.The 7:05 a.m. incident on Piikoi Street and Ala Moana forced police to close some traffic lanes for several hours.
The woman is at Queen's Hospital in critical condition. A 19-year-old woman was driving the car involved in the incident.
A 15-year-old girl injured in Thursday's fatal high-speed crash on Moanalua Freeway remains in critical condition at Queen's Hospital.
A 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl who were also critically injured have improved to fair condition, while another boy, 18, was released from the hospital yesterday.
Two people arrested in kidnap-ransom case
Two suspects were arrested for kidnapping a Waimanalo woman for ransom yesterday, police said.The 31-year-old woman from Waimanalo called her brother asking for help and money to pay people who were holding her, police said. They agreed to meet at a location near Thomas Square.
Three suspects were involved, one man, 47, and two women, 30 and 37. Police arrested the man and one of the women near the agreed-upon Thomas Square location.
One suspect remains at large.
Woman falls from cliff along Maui shoreline
WAILUKU -- A 23-year-old woman was in critical condition this morning at Maui Memorial Hospital after apparently falling off a 100-foot shoreline cliff near Camp Keanae in east Maui.The woman was put on a stretcher by fire rescue workers and taken to the top by helicopter at about 1:23 a.m. yesterday..
Authorities declined to release the name of the woman, pending notification of relatives. He said she moved to Maui from Fullerton, Calif., a couple of months ago.
See expanded coverage in today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
See our [Search] [Info] section for subscription information.
