Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Monday, September 6, 1999

Millennium Moments

Soldiers in paradise

Hawaii swelled with military activity in the handful of years after the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

A look at troop numbers here during that period, according to "Hawaii's War Years" by Gwenfread Allen:

On Dec. 7, 1941, some 43,000 soldiers were on Oahu, plus handfuls on the neighbor islands; that number grew to 135,000 within six months. By June 1945, with plans accelerating for an offensive on Japan, there were 253,000 troops on Oahu, some 553,000 total in the entire Central Pacific area.
The 14th Naval District's numbers grew from 5,800 on Pearl Harbor Day to 20,000 by the end of 1942, to 62,000 one year later, to 137,200 in December 1944.
The number of Marines -- never more than 7,400 through November 1943 -- boomed to 60,000 in Spring 1944, two-thirds of them en route to battle in the Marianas.

Fresh from the fryer

By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Tsutoe Taira makes andagi, a doughnutlike pastry,
for festival-goers at the Okinawan festival yesterday
at Kapiolani Park.

Love triangle may have led to murder-suicide

The gunman in what appears to be a murder-suicide Saturday was identified by the Navy as Petty Officer 1st Class Richard A. Donovan.

Donovan, 30, apparently shot and killed himself at his home in Navy housing at Iroquois Point after killing his wife, Maryjane, 26, and shooting another 27-year-old man at the Nova Sunset Villas apartments in Waipahu Saturday afternoon. Neighbors in Waipahu witnessed the shootings but were unable to help the woman.

Police said the incident apparently stemmed from a love triangle. Investigators believe Donovan's wife was having an affair with the unidentified 27-year-old man. He was taken to Queen's Hospital where no information was being released on his condition.

Donovan was from Olcott, N.Y. His wife was from the Philippines. Donovan was a diving instructor at the Navy Submarine Training Center Pacific. He joined the Navy in 1988.

An infant and another child at the couple's home were not injured. Both children are staying with friends until relatives arrive from the mainland.

The murder this weekend was the 20th this year and the 11th in the last six weeks.

Escaped prisoner recaptured on Big Isle

Big Island police have re-captured a prisoner who may have faked a back injury to escape from Kona Community Hospital.

Lt. Joseph Hing said Lelio Rigaud-Chapini, who was considered dangerous, is being held today at the Kona Police Station in lieu of $100,000 bail. Hing said Rigaud-Chapini, 33, escaped from police custody on Aug. 29 at Kona Community Hospital, where he was taken for an X-ray after he complained of a back injury.

A beat officer responding to a traffic accident in Waikoloa Village in South Kohala yesterday spotted Rigaud-Chapini riding a motorcycle. Hing said the officer flagged down Rigaud-Chapini, who stopped. The suspect then got off the motorcycle and fled on foot, but the officer chased him down and arrested him.

Hing said Rigaud-Chapini was in custody for drug, burglary and auto theft charges when he escaped.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

Two hurt in Ewa wreck

An adult female and a young girl remain hospitalized today after they were injured in a traffic accident Saturday in Ewa.

Both were passengers in a two-car collision that occurred at 12:39 p.m. Saturday at Farrington Highway and Old Fort Weaver Road.

Police said the two and an adult male driver were in a maroon station wagon that was making a west-bound left turn from Old Fort Weaver Weaver Road onto Farrington Highway when it was struck by an station wagon traveling east-bound on the highway.

That driver, alone in the vehicle, refused treatment at the scene for minor injuries, police said.

The man and woman in the other vehicle were taken to Queen's Hospital in critical condition. The man was released late Saturday night. The woman was upgraded to fair condition today.

Police said the girl, who is under 4 years of age, was flown by helicopter to Kapiolani Children's Hospital. She remains in critical condition today.

Police said speed and alcohol were not factors in the accident.

Man drowns off Maui

A 34-year-old man apparently drowned late Saturday night while night diving in Kaupo, Maui, police said.

Thomas D. Kaaukai of Kahalui was diving with friends who found him face down on the shoreline at 11:11 p.m., police said.

Attempts to revive Kaaukai failed. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police classified the case as a miscellaneous accident.

Big Island home burns

A structure fire at a 4-bedroom Punawai St. residence in Keeau on the Big Island caused $152,500 in damage Saturday night.

Upon arrival of firefighters at 8:53 p.m., the 3-story wooden structure had collapsed and was 90 percent consumed by fire, officials said.

Neighbors said the residence had not been occupied for a year.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.