Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Dead man’s
kin decry release
of wife
Sabrina Fiaai, said to have
By Rod Ohira
killed her husband, is out on $150
bail while the city looks into her
possible defense strategies
Star-BulletinDuring a 3-1/2-month slide to rock bottom, Abe Fiaai lost his mother, job and home.
Living on hope, the 36-year-old Fiaai was desperately counting on a tax refund to move his wife and four young children out of a shelter.
But domestic violence claimed Fiaai as a victim on Monday and shattered another family.
His wife was arrested for murder about two hours after the 4:11 a.m. stabbing at the Palehua Hillside town-house complex on Kikaha Street in Makakilo, where Fiaai and his family were visiting relatives.
Police attempted to charge Sabrina Fiaai, 36, on Tuesday for second-degree murder, but city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle ordered her released pending further investigation.In a news conference Tuesday, Carlisle explained that due to Abe Fiaai's two prior convictions of domestic abuse, he wanted time to check on any potential self-defense or battered-spouse syndrome defense that might arise before proceeding.
Sabrina Fiaai, who was freed after posting $150 bail on an outstanding traffic warrant, could be indicted at a later date for the stabbing death of her husband, but her release was shocking to Abe Fiaai's relatives.
Lori Shoaf, Abe Fiaai's niece, said she received a telephone call from Sabrina Fiaai on Wednesday.
"She called us to apologize," said Shoaf, whose uncle was killed in her home. "She told us she stabbed him while he was sleeping for no reason.
"She said she was 100 percent guilty and takes all the blame for this. She wanted to commit suicide, but we told her to think about her kids.
"But it makes me mad that she hasn't been charged for killing Abe."
Keanu Shoaf, Lori's cousin, said releasing Sabrina Fiaai sends the wrong message.
She said she is angry at Carlisle. "I know if I had stabbed my ex-husband, I wouldn't be out.
"What it says is, if you've been beaten in the past, it's OK to kill."
Her uncle was sleeping on the living room floor, and there had been no arguments with his wife during their weekend visit, said Lori Shoaf.
"I heard yelling after he was stabbed," Lori Shoaf said. "She was yelling 'See, Abe, you (expletive) bastard.'"
Sabrina Fiaai's behavior can be strange, said Lori Shoaf.
"They were staying with us in November, and on Thanksgiving Day she got up and left Abe and the kids," Lori Shoaf said. "Nobody knew where she went for two weeks until she wrote a letter."She's lost, and I really think she needs psychiatric help."
Abe and Sabrina Fiaai were married in 1997 but had known each other for about 15 years, said Lori Shoaf.
The couple have four children -- three boys, ages 11, 9 and 1, and a daughter, 2 -- who are staying with Shoaf. At one time, two other children from Sabrina's previous marriage were living with the Fiaais, Shoaf said.
"My uncle was having a hard time," she added. "He lost his mother last Halloween, then shortly after that, he got laid off from his stevedore's job.
"They stayed with us in November and then moved to IHS. They were going back to IHS on the day he was killed. They were waiting for a tax return to get a house."
Shoaf said the Fiaais had a stormy relationship.
"We're not saying Abe was perfect, but you can't call on only his (abuse) history," she added. "They were both abusive, but she was the only one who would call police.
"But he loved her. My uncle didn't deserve to be killed that way."
Shoaf said the stabbing has had an unsettling effect on her own family.
"I'm mad it happened in my house," she said. "One of my children doesn't want to come home because of it."
Sabrina Fiaai was supposed to be at Waianae District Court today for a traffic warrant, but she did not show up. The court was told she was at Queen's Hospital.
Funeral services for Abe Fiaai are pending.
