Confessions
reported in Dana
Ireland case
Court documents say
By Rod Thompson
inmates heard the Schweitzer
brothers, both suspects,
admit the crime
Star-BulletinHILO -- Dana Ireland murder suspects Shawn Schweitzer and his brother Albert Ian allegedly confessed to their involvement in the crime, according to court documents filed in connection with Shawn Schweitzer's bail hearing.
In a written statement, prosecutor Charlene Iboshi said Shawn Schweitzer, 23, told a friend and a cellmate of his involvement with Ireland's kidnap, rape and murder.
In another written statement to the court, defense attorney Keith Shigetomi confirmed a report that Albert Ian Schweitzer, 27, allegedly made a confession regarding Ireland to another inmate while at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Judge Riki May Amano denied bail for Shawn Schweitzer yesterday and ordered police documents that support her decision to be kept secret.
The judge did allow some nonpolice documents to remain open, including a report by state prison-system social worker Judy Branham.
Her report says Schweitzer's brother, Albert Ian, bragged that his father was "taking care of" witnesses, that the family has threatened witnesses and that Shawn Schweitzer's girlfriend offered a witness money if she would decline to testify.
Shawn Schweitzer is under investigation for possible new charges of intimidating a witness, Branham wrote.
But Shigetomi countered his client has not violated any court orders since previous charges related to Ireland were dismissed in October.
The matters discussed in the three police reports kept secret by Amano were already known to the prosecution then, but the prosecution had the charges dismissed anyway, Shigetomi said.
New indictments of Shawn and Albert Ian Schweitzer for murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault relating to Ireland were issued last month. No bail hearing was held yesterday for Albert Ian Schweitzer. He is already being held without bail on an unrelated sexual assault charge.
Ireland, 23, had been living on the Big Island only a few months when she was run over by a car on Christmas Eve 1991, raped, beaten and left to die in a rural area south of Hilo. Besides the two brothers, Frank Pauline Jr., 26, is also a suspect and is to be tried separately next month.
In private comments following yesterday's proceedings, the Schweitzers' father, Jerry, said accusations of witness tampering against his sons were hearsay, spoken by one person to another and finally being told to prosecution investigator William Perreira.
The prosecution filed a request before yesterday's hearing asking to use hearsay in arguing against bail for Schweitzer.
After the hearing, Jerry Schweitzer criticized the judge. "I think she should step down because she has judged my son already," he said.
In explaining her decision to deny bail, Amano said, "The court is reluctant to take chances."
She had previously granted bail in 1997, then revoked it last year because of violations of bail conditions.
Amano's decision to keep three police reports secret is part of an apparent trend in the case.
The judge issued a "gag order" preventing officials from talking about the Schweitzer and Pauline cases; ordered the reasons for dismissing charges against the Schweitzers last year kept secret; and last month ordered the reason for delaying Pauline's trial to July to be secret.
Shigetomi said Shawn Schweitzer turned down a deal offered by the prosecution to plead guilty to hindering prosecution and intimidating a witness and be sentenced to probation.
