Murder victim’s
family pleads
for information

Family and friends beg for
anyone who saw the attack
to contact the authorities

---

By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com

The widow of 43-year-old Mark Mehr said she still lives in fear because the men who beat her husband to death are still at large. Mehr was found in front of an apartment building at 329 California Ave. in Wahiawa on Feb. 11 and died last week after family members made the difficult decision to take him off of life support.

"He was brain dead upon arrival at the hospital," said Mehr's wife of 22 years yesterday, who asked that her name not be published because of fear of retaliation from Mehr's attackers. "They just beat him to death and then they just left him there."

"He was probably on his way home."

Police said Mehr was likely on his way home that night and that he had been drinking just before the altercation. Police said it appears that someone on the street yelled something at Mehr while he was driving.

Police said Mehr got out of his vehicle just before 9:23 p.m. and that a fight took place. Two other men soon joined in against Mehr and police said that's when he went down.

"He had three different types of brain injuries," said his widow. "We had a service in the hospital the night we made the decision to turn off the machines."

Mehr was a carpenter with the local 175 and a father of four, with two daughters, ages 24 and 19, and two sons, ages 15 and 13. Mehr's wife said since his death she has pulled both her sons out of school because she does not know whether they would be targets if her husband's attackers turn out to be other teenagers.

"I just don't understand how these people can have so much hatred," she said.

Both Mehr's widow and the Honolulu Police Department are asking members of the public to come forward with information about this case. Homicide detectives said that at the time of Mehr's beating, there were many people on the street watching what was going on.

"Mr. Mehr was a member of the community that he was assaulted in. He now needs his community to come forward so that the persons responsible are held accountable," said homicide Detective Ted Coons.

"Maybe then his family will be able to get some closure in his murder."

Members of the Army Reserve, in which Mehr served as a command sergeant major, are also asking for people to do the right thing.

"If you know a witness, or if you know someone who is a potential witness, call the homicide detail," said Command Sgt. Maj. Gordon Young, who is also a retired Honolulu police major. "I know people are afraid of retaliation, but if it was your loved one, would you want someone to come forward? I think so."

"He was part of the Army family and we want to see the right thing done."

Mehr's widow said she thinks someone picked a fight with her husband because someone thought he was "just another GI," and not someone who had been part of the community for more than 20 years.

"That's what kills me, because even though he was haole and had blue eyes, he was just so local," she said. "He was such a good person, he loved everybody."

Young said, "He could speak the pidgin, he loved Hawaii. He was a friendly guy that would stop and talk to anybody. ... He was also a guy that wasn't afraid to call it like it is and wasn't afraid to speak the truth."

"He was a real good soldier."

The Army Reserve is putting together a trust fund for Mehr's family that is asking for donations only from those enlisted in the Reserve. Private services for Mehr are scheduled for this weekend at Fort Shafter. Anyone with any information on this case is asked to call Detective Ted Coons at 529-3053.