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Makuakane’s
attacker pleads
guilty to attempted
manslaughter

Chad Pacheco, her boyfriend,
stabbed her 27 times and beat
her nearly to death last year

---

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Nadine Makuakane didn't take it seriously when her boyfriend would tell her that he would kill her if she ever left him.

But a year ago, she nearly died after being stabbed 27 times by Chad Pacheco, her boyfriend of seven years.

"It was a shock to me when it happened because I wasn't in an abusive relationship," said Makuakane, 23.

She cried recently when she watched news reports of 25-year-old Cherry Ann Domingo fatally gunned down by her boyfriend at Ala Moana Center. It could have been her, she said.

A year ago today, she and Pacheco were parked in his truck near Diamond Head, talking, when he became upset and began stabbing her repeatedly with a knife that he grabbed from his dashboard, senior Deputy Prosecutor Maurice Arrisgado said.

Pacheco, 27, who is hearing impaired, pleaded guilty yesterday with the help of a sign language interpreter to a lesser charge of attempted manslaughter, punishable by a 20-year prison term.

He could have faced a life term with parole.

The couple had been engaged for about a year and were together practically every day, so Makuakane asked him for more freedom.

"It was like, 'if I can't have you, no one else will,' " she said. "I didn't expect him to react that way."

While there had been warning signs, she didn't recognize them them until after the attack, she said.

A stab to her forehead broke the tip of the knife that he usually used while fishing. She also was stabbed in the chest, but she managed to pull the knife out and get out of the car, Arrisgado said.

But Pacheco went after her with a tire iron and tire jack, breaking her eye socket in three places, her nose and her lower jaw. He somehow got her back in the truck and drove away, off the cliff -- on purpose, she said.

A kiawe tree stopped the car's descent. One headlight that was still working alerted state workers.

It wasn't until emergency personnel arrived that they realized she was suffering from injuries unrelated to the crash.

Her lung had collapsed and she nearly died from loss of blood, Arrisgado said.

While she made a remarkable recovery after extensive facial reconstruction surgery, the psychological trauma may have lasting effects, Arrisgado said.

The scars remind her every day to be thankful. She's now more cautious about being in relationships. She still wants to be a flight attendant; she had gone to school and graduated with honors before the attack.

She and Pacheco had been together since her sophomore year in high school. She hadn't dated anyone else and wanted more freedom to do things before settling down with him.

While she is satisfied that he will be serving time behind bars, she doesn't think it will be long enough compared to what she suffered. "I feel for him, but when I think about what he did to me, I think he should serve longer (than 20 years)," she said.

"It's tragic for both families," said Todd Eddins, deputy public defender. Their families know each other, and their fathers had worked together.

Based on the facts, Pacheco's guilty plea to attempted manslaughter was a fair resolution, Eddins said. "He's truly remorseful for his actions and he did not want to proceed to trial and relive that devastating evening."

Pacheco, a produce clerk for eight years at the Pearl Harbor commissary, will be sentenced July 18 by Judge Wilfred Watanabe.