AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kenneth Wakisaka, right, shown here with his lawyer, Mal Gillin, in June, was sentenced yesterday to life with parole for the killing of his wife, Shirlene.
A Ko Olina man maintained that he did not kill his wife as a judge sentenced him to life in prison with parole yesterday. Prison sentence rekindles
claim of innocence
By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.comKenneth Wakisaka, 46, said he didn't get a fair trial and that he intends to appeal.
"I did not murder Shirlene Wakisaka; I tried to save her life," he said yesterday before being sentenced.
Wakisaka addressed the court against the advice of his attorney and despite a warning by Circuit Judge Marie Milks that his statements could be used against him at his hearing before the parole board or at trial if he gets a new one.
Wakisaka said he was speaking out because "I need my peace of mind and to be heard."
Shirlene Wakisaka, 52, died five days after her husband called 911 on April 5, 2000, saying she had collapsed.
Ambulance crews had responded to the couple's Ko Olina home earlier that morning after Wakisaka's daughter called from California asking that medical personnel check on her mother.
Kenneth Wakisaka told emergency crews when they first responded that his wife had apparently overdosed on pills and alcohol. The crews left after he signed a waiver indicating she didn't need to be taken to the hospital.
At trial, the defense contended that Shirlene Wakisaka died as a result of suicide brought on by her alcoholism and various mental illnesses. Defense Attorney Mal Gillin had argued that Wakisaka did everything he could to save his wife, including perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Deputy Prosecutor Dan Oyasato said Wakisaka's words and actions say otherwise.
Just hours after Wakisaka's wife was pronounced dead, the first words Wakisaka asked a medical investigator was whether an autopsy could reveal whether his wife had been strangled. The medical investigator was shocked by his question because all she knew was that his wife may have died of a drug overdose.
Also, two days after his wife had been brought to the hospital, Wakisaka made unsolicited remarks to his stepdaughter that he had not choked her mother and that there were no choke marks around her neck.
An autopsy performed shortly after his wife's death showed Shirlene Wakisaka died of brain damage caused by strangulation, according to the medical examiner who testified at trial.
Although the case was based mostly on circumstantial evidence, the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in June.
Wakisaka said he was "disgusted" at the "malicious and frenzy of the prosecution" to convict him and accused his stepdaughters of having much to gain financially from having him found guilty.
"Shirlene Wakisaka will not rest in peace knowing you are sending an innocent man to prison," he told Milks.
Milks said she had no discretion but to accept the jury's verdict.
She ordered Wakisaka to pay $480 restitution to Shirlene Wakisaka's daughter, Tiffany Irvin, for counseling and $43,954 to Shirlene Wakisaka's estate for medical expenses.
