Dispatcher says murder
suspect complained
about quality of food

An HPD officer says the accused
claimed her nurse was a crook

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

A 55-year-old woman charged with murdering her care home operator Sunday accused the victim of being greedy and apparently was dissatisfied with the food she was being served, according to a police dispatch supervisor.

Emelie Rauschenburg called 911 and told dispatcher Terry Kaiwi that she had killed her caregiver, Agapita Alcaraz, at their Waipahu home on Saturday.

District Judge Tenney Tongg found there was probable cause to charge Rauschenburg with second-degree murder and sent the case to Circuit Court for trial. Arraignment was set for Oct. 18.

Kaiwi said she kept Rauschenburg on the line after sending patrol officers to 94-497 Kahualena St. by asking her details of the stabbing.

Rauschenburg told Kaiwi she stabbed Alcaraz with a dinner knife.

When asked why, Rauschenburg said something to the effect that Alcaraz was being paid $1,000 a month but was serving junk food, Kaiwi said.

Bartolome Alcaraz, the victim's husband, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Officer Ryan Matsuda, who responded to the 911 call, said he entered the home after no one answered his calls.

He was near the kitchen when Rauschenburg surprised him coming out of what appeared to be her room holding a bloody knife over her head. She appeared to be upset.

Matsuda said he stepped back, drew his firearm and ordered her to put the knife down.

"She's a crook, that lady is a crook," he quoted Rauschenburg as saying.

She finally put down the knife after Matsuda warned her repeatedly.

Matsuda said he later discovered Alcaraz with a stab wound outside the home in a courtyard. She had no pulse, no heartbeat and was lying in a pool of blood.

Forensic pathologist Mary Flynn, who performed the autopsy on Alcaraz, determined the cause of death as hemorrhaging in the chest from stab wounds.