Man found guilty in
By Debra Barayuga
shooting death of woman
found in her bathtub
Star-BulletinA Circuit Court jury has found Matthew Clement guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a woman who was found in the bathtub of her Waiau home in February.
After nearly two days of deliberations, the jury yesterday also found Clement guilty of first-degree burglary and a firearms violation in connection with the Feb. 3 slaying of Eleanor "Ellie" Wimberly.
Clement, 27, faces life with the possibility of parole when sentenced March 3 before Judge Dexter Del Rosario.
Clement's attorney, Hayden Aluli, said his client was wrongfully charged and convicted and intends to appeal the verdict.
"Matthew is an innocent man," he said.
Clement's parents and an aunt also criticized the police's handling of the investigation, saying it was one-sided from the beginning.
Aluli had argued that Wimberly's boyfriend, Duane Sato, and not Clement should have been on trial. "We don't know who did it, but it could have very well been Sato."
Aluli argued that Clement was at his brother's home at the time Wimberly was killed and that his sister-in-law confirmed he had been with her all day. He also said the evidence the state produced was circumstantial and did not directly link Clement to the murder scene.
The state also failed to show proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the .22-caliber gun found at Clement's brother's home is the murder weapon, Aluli said.
Deputy Prosecutor Susan Won said she was pleased the jury was able to reach their decision based on the circumstantial evidence.
She said police did nothing wrong procedurally in their investigation and did a thorough job in finding the "right guy."
While Duane Sato was initially detained and questioned, police later eliminated him as a suspect and the evidence turned toward Clement, Won said.
Prosecutors contend Wimberly died because she wouldn't have sex with Clement.
The day before she was found slain "execution-style," slumped headfirst in a pool of her own blood in the bathtub, Wimberly told her boyfriend Sato that Clement wanted to have sex with her but that she would rather die than let that happen, Won said.
An acquaintance, Steven Gileece, also testified Clement told him he was planning to move in with a girl, but he had to get rid of her Japanese boyfriend first.
Gileece testified he saw Clement carrying a .22-caliber firearm on Feb. 2 and 3, and that Clement had fired it into Waimalu Stream before putting it away in a fanny pack.
Police found a .22-caliber bullet in Wimberly's bath tub, Won said. Two more .22-caliber bullets were recovered from her body during an autopsy. A .22-caliber gun with Clement's fingerprints was found in a backpack at Clement's brother's home when he was arrested a few days later.
