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Man gets life sentence
for killing wife by
setting her on fire

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By Anthony Sommer
Star-Bulletin

LIHUE -- Family and friends of Miu Lan Esposo-Aguiar packed the Circuit Court courtroom yesterday for the sentencing of her husband, Gregory Aguiar.

Under the terms of his plea bargain with county prosecutors there was only one sentence Judge Clifford Nakea could impose: life with the possibility of parole.

Aguiar, 51, pleaded no contest to a charge of second-degree murder. He was accused of pouring gasoline on his wife during a Sunday morning argument in their Eleele home on March 12 and setting her on fire.

Several neighbors told police that as they were leaving for church they saw Esposo-Aguiar, 39, run from her house in a ball of flame and use a neighbor's garden hose to put out the fire.

She died March 31 of complications from massive burns.

Aguiar surrendered to police a few hours after setting fire to his wife.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to not seek enhanced punishment, which would have been life without the possibility of parole, and to not prosecute him on a reckless endangerment charge. The latter charge stemmed from the couple's 3-year-old granddaughter witnessing the incident.

At his sentencing, Aguiar, without any hint of emotion, apologized to his wife's family and his own in a single sentence.

But when his wife's sister addressed the court, tears began pouring down his face.

Melissa Rivera spoke to Aguiar rather than the judge and reminded him she had known him since she was 3 years old and he lived across the street from her family.

"Your family was part of my family," she said. "It still is."

"I don't hate you," she told Aguiar. "I just feel so sad for what has happened."

At that point, Aguiar's attorney, Peter Kea, handed Aguiar some facial tissues to wipe away his tears.

Esposo-Aguiar told firefighters who treated her that she and her husband had fought about the amount of time she was spending on Oahu on business. She was the office manager for a medical equipment supply company on Kauai and was opening a new store in Honolulu.

Police found a packed suitcase on the floor of the gasoline-soaked kitchen of the Aguiar's home.

Kevin Glick, who had been Esposo-Aguiar's employer for nine years, also addressed Aguiar more than the court. He said they had been close social friends over the years.

"I don't believe you wanted to kill her but I believe you wanted to make her suffer," Glick told Aguiar, adding he believes Aguiar succeeded.

During the weeks of painful treatment before she died, Glick told Aguiar, "She never said anything bad about you."