Big Isle killing self-defense,
lawyer says

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By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

HILO >> A Big Island murder victim portrayed as a polite, hard-working university student from Japan was also a drug user who used a knife to attack the youth who killed him, defense attorney Brian De Lima said yesterday.

Michael Verece, 17, accused of murdering 20-year-old Tetsuya Takahashi last year, will claim self-defense, De Lima told Circuit Judge Riki May Amano.

Jury selection for Verece will begin Monday. Amano denied motions to throw out the indictment against Verece and to limit De Lima's involvement in the case.

But she granted a prosecution motion to block references to drug use by the victim and others, except for drug use on the day of the murder.

Takahashi's body was found Jan. 18, 2001, dumped by a roadside south of Hilo. Court records show that Verece allegedly killed Takahashi because he refused to give him money from an automated teller machine so he could buy drugs.

Verece confessed to stabbing Takahashi and then hitting him with a rock, records show.

The records also state that Takahashi's employer, Thane Milhoan, asked during grand jury testimony if Takahashi "ingested chemicals," said he would be extremely surprised.

But De Lima said there are witnesses who could testify that Takahashi "smoked marijuana all the time." Some witnesses could testify that Takahashi used crystal methamphetamine, he said.

One witness said Takahashi "acted really strange when using ice," De Lima said.

"In this case there is evidence he was smoking crack cocaine that evening." Verece and Takahashi "were partying together," he said.

Takahashi had an Army knife he used in fishing, De Lima said. "Mr. Takahashi was the aggressor, and he attempted to kill Mr. Verece," De Lima said.

Grand jury transcripts show Verece told police and friends that Takahashi attacked him with a knife. But the transcripts also show some of the friends doubted Verece's stories because they considered him to be a liar. An autopsy report showed Takahashi died not from "superficial" stab wounds, but from blows to the head.

Verece was 16 when Takahashi was killed. He is being tried as an adult after Family Court waived jurisdiction over him.