Victim’s last words
help in arrestWitnesses tell police
a stabbed woman said the
name of her alleged assailant
A dying woman's last words helped Honolulu police arrest the man alleged to have stabbed her, according to a police affidavit.
The 41-year-old victim, identified by police only as Stella, suffered a puncture wound to her neck and was pronounced dead at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center at 7:17 a.m. Sunday.
Homicide investigators said last night that the Honolulu Medical Examiner's office had not released her name yet because of difficulties contacting her family.
Police said the victim collapsed on the shoulder near 87-1581 Farrington Highway by Ulehawa Beach Park in Nanakuli on Sunday morning and that before she passed out, witnesses heard her say that she had been stabbed by "John."
Witnesses told police that before the victim collapsed, they heard a man and woman argue at a beach campsite at about 4 a.m. Witnesses heard the woman ask someone to leave her campsite, police said.
The argument lasted for 15 to 20 minutes, according to witnesses who assumed that the couple then went to sleep, police said.
Almost two hours later, witnesses heard a woman scream, then saw her come staggering from the beach and across the parking lot until she collapsed near the highway, according to police.
Witnesses also told police that there was a man named John living at the beach campsite.
When officers arrived at the tent, they saw the suspect, a 39-year-old male named John, lying down inside, according to the affidavit.
Inside the tent, officers saw a red substance that looked like blood on the suspect's right thigh, his shorts, a blanket, the tent floor and other items inside, the affidavit states.
The affidavit also noted that the suspect appeared to have blood on his hands and knuckles. Police did not find a knife, but found a knife scabbard apparently covered in blood.
Homicide investigators were awaiting a search warrant last night to look in the suspect's backpack.
Police arrested the suspect for suspicion of second-degree murder and for an outstanding $350 contempt-of-court warrant.
The suspect had not been charged for either offense last night.