Pauline says prison
By Dana Williams
drug debt, brother’s
plight led to ‘story’
Star-BulletinHILO -- Frank Pauline Jr. said he was overwhelmed by drug debt at Halawa prison, and one of his brothers was facing a drug charge on the Big Island.
Pauline wanted to make a deal with police and prosecutors so he could be moved and charges against his brother could be reduced.
So he told investigators that he had information about the murder of Dana Ireland.
That was Pauline's testimony yesterday before a Hilo jury. Pauline is charged in the Christmas Eve 1991 murder, sexual assault and kidnapping of Ireland.
Judge Riki May Amano's courtroom was packed with spectators yesterday as Pauline took the stand in his own defense. Pauline told the jury he was 27, then gave his date of birth as April 27, 1973. Later he said he was 26 years old.
"Frank, did you murder or rape Dana Ireland?" defense attorney Clifford Hunt asked.
"No, I didn't," Pauline answered.
Pauline said he bought drugs while he was an inmate at Halawa prison, promising dealers he would pay them later. But when the time came to pay, Pauline didn't have any money.
He said he called his mother and other family members and lied to them, telling them a relative had purchased drugs in prison and told dealers Pauline would pay. He asked for money, but his family had no money to give him.
He called his brother John Gonsalves.
"Somehow the case of the Ireland case came up," Pauline said. He said Gonsalves suggested that if Pauline talked to police about Ireland, it would help both of them. Gonsalves was facing charges of conspiracy to promote a dangerous drug in the first degree.
He said Gonsalves gave him the name of a psychic, and asked him to contact the man. The psychic told Pauline his life was in danger, and also suggested he talk to police about the Ireland case.
Pauline said he only knew what he had heard about the case from the media and from people gossiping in the neighborhood. Pauline is from the Hawaiian Beaches area, a few miles from where Ireland was found.
"He asked me if I was involved in any way. I told him, 'You one psychic, you cannot tell I wasn't involved?' " Pauline said.
After thinking about it for a while, the psychic came up with the name of one of Pauline's relatives, then mentioned the names of Albert Ian and Shawn Schweitzer, Pauline said. Pauline said he told the psychic he knew of the Schweitzers, and he remembered their Volkswagen bug had been smashed.
He said during the holiday season, the Schweitzers came to the Pauline residence and talked to another of his brothers, asking if the brother could help fix the car.
Pauline said as he was remembering this in 1994, he thought, "Oh, I can make up one story." The psychic told him that if he talked to police about the Ireland murder, his brother could get help on the drug charges.
He said his brother told him "the worst can happen to you boy, is they're going to give you perjury. They're not going to put you in for murder."
As the youngest boy in the family, Pauline said he was always willing to fight for his relatives.
"So what, you was like the pit bull?" Hunt asked.
"I wouldn't say that. I would say the idiot from the family," Pauline answered.
Pauline said he talked to Detective Steven Guillermo about the Ireland case, although he was worried about what the other inmates at Halawa would say.
Pauline said he made up a story about the murder when Guillermo came to interview him.
Earlier in the trial, Guillermo testified that Pauline said he couldn't remember details of the attack because he was high on drugs.
"The truth is, I couldn't remember because I wasn't there," Pauline said. "My story wasn't all put together, put it that way."
Direct examination will continue when court reconvenes Monday, followed by cross-examination by prosecutors.
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