Kona detective
charged in wife’s
gunshot murder

A fund is being set up for the
4 minor children of
the Waikoloa couple

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

A Kona police detective was charged yesterday with the murder of his 42-year-old wife near their Waikoloa home Friday night.

Albert Pacheco, 45, was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree criminal property damage and first-degree terroristic threatening.

An 11-year-veteran of the Hawaii County Police Department, Pacheco was being held without bail at the Hilo cellblock until his arraignment today.

An autopsy yesterday revealed his wife, Cathalene Ann Pacheco, died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Police said they believe marital problems were the motive for the shooting.

Police said Albert Pacheco allegedly drove his police car into a van driven by his wife, blocked her vehicle, then shot her several times. The shooting took place about 7 p.m. Friday on Lina Poepoe Street in Waikoloa Village in South Kohala.

Police arrested Pacheco about 7:25 p.m. without incident.

Pacheco joined the Hawaii County Police Department in January 1991 and worked in the South Kohala Patrol District. He was promoted to detective-sergeant in May 1999, when he was assigned to the Kona Criminal Investigation Section. He began in his police career in 1981 in Honolulu.

Friends, family and co-workers mourned the loss of Cathalene Pacheco yesterday.

"Cathalene was a very Christian person, and her religion and family were the two most important things in her life," said Larry Hull, broker in charge of Clark Realty Corp.'s Kailua-Kona office, for whom she worked as a successful Realtor.

"My staff is absolutely devastated by her loss. They respected her so much."

Pachecos had five children, three girls, ages 23, 17, and 16; and two boys, 6 and 4, Hull said. The eldest, who has two children of her own, wants to try to keep the family together, Hull said.

So Hull's office is setting up a fund for her children. People wanting to contribute may call Clark Realty in Kona at 808-329-5255 or mail a check made out to the Cathalene Pacheco Memorial Fund and send it to 75-5722 Kuakini Hwy., Suite 103, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740.

Hull said Cathalene Pacheco not only purchased a home for herself in Waikoloa Village, a middle- to upper-middle class community above Waikoloa Resort, but also bought a home for her daughter. They lived about a block apart.

"She was a dear person and an incredible friend," said Karen Gremp, who began working at the realty office with Cathalene about 112 years ago.

Gremp also belonged to the Solid Rock Ministries church in Kailua-Kona, where Cathalene and Albert Pacheco were members. "I just have a hard time comprehending this," she said.