Special to the Star-Bulletin
Melchor Tabag arrived in Hawaii from the Philippines
in 1986 and worked a number of jobs before becoming
a vacuum cleaner salesman.

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Murder victim’s
friend mulls an
eerie twist of fate

Victim's friend once taught
the murder suspect and now feels
as if he is in 'the twilight zone'

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Anguishing over the death of his best friend, Peter Gerum wipes away tears and wonders aloud about a twist of fate that has reunited him with Melchor Tabag's accused killer.

Gerum, 54, was the director of Keiki O Haleiwa preschool from 1978 to 1983. Twenty years ago, Gerum remembers bouncing a happy 3-year-old boy on his knee.

That boy was Michael Robert Lawrence, charged with murdering Tabag, a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman, in March.

Gerum did not make the connection until he saw Lawrence's father in District Court at his son's preliminary hearing.

"When I saw him, I just dropped my head and thought, God, how can this be," Gerum said. "It made me feel like I was in a twilight zone.

"How could a 3-year-old from such total innocence, with so much potential, grow up to be a murderer? For whatever odd reason, fate brought (the three of) us together."

Lawrence reportedly has not spoken a word since his arrest, said police Detective Clifford Rubio. Any communication has been through sign language or notes, he added.

Lawrence, who entered a not-guilty plea to the charge, is undergoing psychiatric evaluation to determine if he is fit for trial.

Police believe Tabag was killed and dismembered. His body has not been recovered, but DNA evidence linked to Tabag was recovered from a bone saw in Lawrence's possession.

Lawrence also was driving Tabag's car when arrested.

Ironically, the medical examiner will not declare Tabag legally dead without a body while the justice system is attempting to try Lawrence for murdering him.

Dr. Alvin Omori, chief medical examiner, said a death certificate in this type of case can be issued through court order.

So there is no closure for Tabag's family, only a shrine in the living room of their Mahalani Street home in Kaneohe to remind them that he is not coming back.

Tabag's death has left his parents and three sisters without a guiding light, said Gerum.

"For all the family, it's like we have 10 fingers," said Elisita Crisostomo, Tabag's sister. "Now the finger we really need to make the others work is missing.

"I really miss him."

Tabag, 41, deserves to be remembered for his relentless pursuit of a better life, not as just a murdered salesman, said Gerum.

In 1991, five years after arriving in Hawaii, Tabag answered an advertisement from Gerum, a Kamehameha Schools elementary teacher, offering tutorial services.

From that meeting, Tabag and Gerum became best friends.

"Mel spoke broken English and couldn't complete a sentence," Gerum recalled. "He didn't have book knowledge but was resourceful. It was amazing all the stuff he could do."

Tabag worked hard but earned little at hotels, a T-shirt factory and as a printing press operator.

"He believed he could do more," Gerum said. "He had talent but didn't have the means to demonstrate it."

Along the way, Tabag encouraged relatives to pool their money and purchase a three-bedroom home for more than $300,000, said Gerum.

Tabag's plan was to expand the home so his sisters could move in, but by the time the work was completed, the cost had risen to $515,000, Gerum said.

Inspired by Tabag, family members made mortgage payments of $4,500 a month while working as custodians, hotel maids, dishwashers and food pantry clerks.

"Mel loved his family," Gerum said. "He never married. He worked constantly for his parents and sisters."

Intrigued by an ad for a sales job, Tabag applied for it.

"He saw Kirby as freedom from all the run-of-the-mill jobs he had held all his life," Gerum said. "For the first time, he could wear nice clothes instead of a uniform to work.

"He could travel around the whole island instead of standing in his assembly line position. Best of all, however, was meeting new people. Mel simply loved people."

Tabag had been working for Kirby about eight months when he was killed.

"When his room was opened after his death, there were boxes and boxes of neatly ironed and folded Goodwill clothes that Mel had bought for his family back in the Philippines," Gerum said.

"He just didn't have the money to send the boxes back home."

Gerum recalls sitting in his apartment early one morning, thinking about his friend.

"This beautiful blue light appeared in the room and I felt this wave of love and compassion go through my body," Gerum said. "I knew it was Mel.

"It was his way of letting me know he was OK."

How to help the family Melchor Tabag's family has been unable to collect on his life insurance or the $33,000 in his profit-sharing plan without a death certificate. Anyone wishing to contribute to the "Friends of Melchor Tabag Memorial Fund" can do so until October at all Bank of Hawaii branches or by sending checks with the notation "Samaritan fund/Tabag family" to Central SDA Church, 2313 Nuuanu Ave., Honolulu, HI 96817.