A suspect who allegedly stabbed his wife's lover was led to an HPD cellblock yesterday. He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Man arrested
in Waipahu killingThe victim is the son of a
former lawmaker from Micronesia
The 26-year-old son of a former lawmaker from Micronesia was fatally stabbed early yesterday in Waipahu in an argument stemming from an apparent love triangle, according to police.
The victim -- identified by friends as Siwin Salle -- is the son of Jonathan Salle, a wealthy former senator from Chuuk in the Micronesian legislature, said fellow clansman and family friend Ichiro Robert.
"It's a good family," Robert said. He said the family moved to Hawaii after the former senator fell ill and sought medical care here.
Salle was found dead in the kitchen of his 27-year-old girlfriend's townhouse at the Oasis at Waipahu Apartments at 94-207 Waipahu St., Apartment 168.
Police said the woman's 29-year-old estranged husband, Airino Asarin, stabbed Salle multiple times in the upper body with a kitchen knife at about 4:30 a.m.
Asarin fled but returned to the apartment complex, where he was identified to officers investigating the killing. Police arrested him on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Asarin's blood-alcohol level was 0.123 at 8 a.m., above the legal limit for drivers of 0.08, police said. Asarin, who is also from Micronesia, has no criminal record in Hawaii.
Police homicide Lt. David Kamai said Asarin found Salle in the woman's bedroom, which she shared with their four children and another couple and their three children.
He began arguing with his wife, then struggled with the victim on the upstairs landing outside the bedroom before allegedly stabbing him, Kamai said.
The woman said she doesn't know whether her children, ages 7, 3, 1 and 8 months who were in the bedroom, witnessed the stabbing because she ran outside to call police. Her husband had moved out about a week ago, she said.
Salle's family members declined to comment.
Robert and about two dozen relatives, including his mother, and fellow clansmen of Salle rushed to the scene when they heard of his death.
Yesterday's death is the fourth killing at the apartment complex, formerly called Nova Sunset Villas, since 1999.
In September, Recardo Reyes shot and killed his estranged wife, Stephanie, with a rifle, before turning the gun on himself.
In September 1999, Navy Petty Officer 1st class Richard A. Donovan shot and killed his wife, Maryjane, and a 27-year-old man police believed had been having an affair with her. Donovan later killed himself at his Iroquois Point home.
