Man who stabbed
neighbor to death is
found not guilty
due to insanity

---

By Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin

A Circuit Court judge has ruled that a Pupukea man who fatally stabbed his neighbor and severely injured two others in 1994 was not guilty by reason of insanity.

Judge Michael Town yesterday committed William J. Eberwein to Hawaii State Hospital. Eberwein had waived a jury trial.

The judge said the evidence proved the charges against Eberwein of second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree terroristic threatening.

But the judge ruled Eberwein had suffered from either a fixed delusional disorder or a paranoid personality, which impaired his capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct.

On Nov. 13, 1994, the victim, Daniel Camplin, a carpenter, complained about Eberwein's activities to two of Camplin's friends who were drinking at his house. The two then went into Eberwein's house and provoked him, according to police reports.

Eberwein got a long kitchen knife and cut one of the men's arms. He then stabbed Camplin in the chest and the other man in the back when he tried to restrain Eberwein.

Eberwein's lawyer, Richard Hoke, said he would file legal papers to have his client released so he can return to his family in Florida.

"His delusion is focused to a set of circumstances in 1994," Hoke said. "He can be safely released into the community." Eberwein has been hospitalized since 1996.

In his decision the judge described Eberwein as a loner and envious of his neighbors' athletic prowess, social skills and success.

He felt picked on by various people and thought the victim was an agent of groups or agencies out to get him.

For months Eberwein had threatened his neighbors, put offensive literature on their cars and brandished a bat at least once.