Circuit Judge Wilfred Watanabe found Emelie Rauschenburg, 57, guilty of second-degree murder yesterday in the stabbing death of her care-home operator. Woman guilty of murdering
Waipahu care-home workerBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comRauschenburg had said she stabbed Agapita Alcaraz on Sept. 30, 2000 because Alcaraz served her unsatisfactory food.
Her lawyer argued that she suffered from extreme mental and emotional disturbance at the time, but a court-appointed panel of experts disagreed.
Rauschenburg faces a mandatory life prison term with the possibility of parole when she is sentenced July 25.
This was not the first murder trial for Rauschenburg. In 1984, police said Rauschenburg set fire to a Makiki boarding house with 10 people inside.
She was acquitted by reason of insanity for the death of a disabled veteran who died in the fire.
Rauschenburg was committed to the Hawaii State Hospital but was granted release to the adult probation office four years later.
In March 2000 she was accepted into the Waipahu care home operated by Alcaraz and her husband.