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Maui man killed
wife, jury finds

Brian Kawamoto faces sentence
of life in the stabbing death
of wife Bridget

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By Gary Kubota
Star-Bulletin

WAILUKU -- A jury today found a Maui man guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of his wife, Bridget Kawamoto, at their home last year.

Brian Kawamoto, 43, is scheduled to be sentenced by Maui Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto on Nov. 30.

A conviction for second-degree murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison.

Kawamoto was also convicted of first-degree terroristic threatening of his stepdaughter and abuse of a household member.

He also was convicted of violating a temporary restraining order that required him to stay away from his Waiehu Terrace home on Nakuluai Street.

In closing arguments yesterday, Prosecutor Richard Bissen pointed to the testimony of Kawamoto's stepdaughter, who recalled his missing her 18th birthday because he was in a Lahaina hotel room with his girlfriend.

Bissen said that before the killing on Sept. 24, 1999, Kawamoto wrote a note naming his brothers as heirs if anything should happen to his family.

Bissen said Kawamoto hid in a bedroom for hours, waiting for his wife to return with the children, before he attacked her.

The stepdaughter, Leona DeCambra, testified that Kawamoto threatened to kill her if she took her mother's side in the marital conflict.

DeCambra said that soon after her mother was stabbed in a bathtub, she saw her brother and sister run screaming from the house, followed by Kawamoto covered with blood.

Deputy Public Defender William McGrath has argued that Kawamoto was not guilty of murder and was under extreme emotional stress.