Newswatch

By Star-Bulletin Staff

Thursday, December 23, 1999

Millennium Moments

A man and his
Castle on Kalakaua

In 1890, the flamboyant James Bicknell Castle, a businessman and Castle & Cooke partner, started building himself, well, a castle.

He bought a 400-by-400-foot piece of land on Kalakaua Avenue at the base of Diamond Head, and starting constructing Kainalu ("Seabreakers"), according to David Free in "Vignettes of Old Hawaii."

Craftsmen descended from Europe and America to craft the castle -- a 3 -story Victorian full of stained-glass windows, curved stairway, hand-painted walls and ceilings, carved wood, crystal chandeliers and a dumbwaiter, Free says. The mansion's cost: $175,000.

After Castle died in 1918, his house was sold to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in 1920, Free says. It was used as the Elks Club until razed in 1959 for a new clubhouse, where it remains today.

Shark fisherman found
not guilty of murder attempt

A Circuit Court jury acquitted a Honolulu man of attempting to hire a hit man to kill a competitor in the shark fin business.

Instead the jury this morning found Hung Van Huynh guilty of second-degree attempted assault on competitor Khanh Le. The crime carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

If he had been convicted of attempted murder, Huynh would have faced life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Defense attorney Keith Shigetomi had argued Huynh was set up by an ex-convict who agreed to work with police.

Prosecutors showed videotapes of Huynh meeting with Detective Anderson Hee, who posed undercover as the hit man. On Dec. 4, the group met in a room wired by police at the Airport Holiday Inn. and Huynh gave $2,500 and the guns to the undercover officer.

Huynh is scheduled to be sentenced June 14.

Murder suspect's exam will be on mainland

A drifter who is accused of killing a Big Island park ranger will be sent to the mainland for examinations to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial, a federal judge ruled today.

Magistrate Judge Francis Yamashita granted the U.S. government's motion to send Eugene F. Boyce III to the closest mainland federal facility because there is no appropriate place on island to do the exams.

Yamashita denied the motion for an assessment to determine whether Boyce was sane at the time of the alleged shooting because Boyce has not said he will use insanity as a defense. All further trial proceedings, including arraignment and plea, will be held after the mental fitness reports are finished.

Yamashita also will appoint a second attorney because Boyce is facing first-degree murder, a capital offense that could bring him the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Boyce is accused of killing park ranger Steve Makuakane-Jarrell. He is being held without bail.

Sacred Falls Park remains closed

A decision on whether to reopen Sacred Falls State Park, where rocks continue to fall, will be held off until next year, the chairman of the state's Department of Land and Natural Resources said.

A landslide at the falls on Mother's Day killed eight people and injured 50 others.

Tim Johns said geologists continue to monitor the closed area every few weeks, and that during the last visit, after Thanksgiving, a falling rock almost injured one of them.

Johns did not put a timetable on a decision, but said it would be later next year after risk and geological assessments are complete.

Communities in the area will also be part of any long-range decisions on future use of the Sacred Falls area.

"We don't want to rush the community," Johns said. "We are there to work with them."

The park was closed to hikers after the landslide.

More tickets released for 'N Sync concerts

Tom Moffatt Productions has released 700 more tickets for each of the three 'N Sync concerts -- Dec. 30, 31 and Jan. 1 -- at the Blaisdell Arena.

Sources said singer Britney Spears is expected to appear in at least one of the shows.

Correction A story Tuesday on the state Ethics Commission should have said the controversy over contracts awarded to the son of state Department of Transportation director Kazu Hayashida might have been avoided if the conflict of interest law were tougher, rather than the disclosure law.

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Police, Fire, Courts



By Star-Bulletin staff

Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers

16-month investigation bags alleged gambler

HILO -- Following a 16-month investigation, police arrested a 57-year-old Hilo man yesterday for gambling offenses, they said.

The case involved "6-5' sports betting, in which the gambling operator promises to pay $5 if he loses, but if the bettor loses, he must pay $6.

The suspect was released pending investigation , police said.

Robbery attempt foiled when employee escapes

A 41-year-old man was arrested after a robbery attempt at the McDonald's restaurant on Keeaumoku Street last night.

The suspect hid in the restroom at closing time and when an employee entered the restroom at 11:34 p.m., the suspect pulled out a handgun and tied him up, police said. The suspect forced the manager to open the safe and then tied up the manager and three other employees. Meanwhile, the man tied up in the restroom was able to break free and called police.

The suspect, who has no known address, was apprehended while running out the back door.

Teen accused of trying to slash sister with knife

A 13-year-old Hawaii Kai boy was arrested for allegedly threatening his older sister with a knife yesterday.

During a scuffle at their home on Lunalilo Home Road, the boy grabbed a knife from the kitchen and chased his 14-year-old sister, police said.

He was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening.

Bandit flees on foot from American Savings branch

A man got away with an undisclosed sum in an afternoon bank robbery yesterday at American Savings Bank at 3221 Waialae Ave.

No one was injured in the 4:30 p.m. holdup, and no weapon was seen, police said.

He was described as 18 to 19 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 150-160 pounds, with a medium build. He was wearing a dark blue beach hat and a black, short-sleeved T-shirt, and had an olive-colored backpack.

High surf closes highway this morning in Nanakuli

High surf closed two lanes of Farrington Highway in Nanakuli early this morning for several hours.

The surf and debris washed onto the highway fronting the Nanakuli McDonald's about 4 a.m.

All lanes were open before the morning rush hour.