2 counties reject
offer of help on
‘cold cases’The state gets a grant to help
solve murder cases, but the
Big Isle and Honolulu opt out
Honolulu and Hawaii County police departments are saying thanks but no thanks to an offer by the state Attorney General's Office to help solve "cold" homicide cases.
Attorney General Mark Bennett announced yesterday that the state has received $200,000 in federal funds that would pay for some of his investigators to work on solving some of the estimated 400 unsolved homicides statewide in the last 25 years.
Kauai and Maui County police departments and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service formally agreed to give state investigators access to their files, but Honolulu and Big Island police declined the offer.
"Because we were involved in our own efforts already, we declined," said Maj. Mark Nakagawa of HPD's Criminal Investigation Division. "But we've always worked with the AG's, so we don't expect anything to change just because we didn't enter a formal agreement.
"We're all interested in solving homicides, and if we think there would be value in turning certain cases over to them, we may do so."
Nakagawa said HPD detectives are in the process of using DNA and serology (blood and bodily fluids) testing for seven unsolved homicide cases and 28 unsolved sexual assault cases.
He also said there were concerns that many of the state investigators assigned to the cold case unit would be former HPD homicide detectives, many of whom had worked on the same cases while they were active investigations.
"That's not exactly what you want when you look at a cold case," Nakagawa said. "Sometimes after an investigator works on a case for a while, he develops certain prejudices. You need fresh eyes."
The former HPD homicide investigators employed at the Attorney General's office include former Lt. Allen "Nappy" Napoleon, and former detectives Anderson "Bucky" Hee, Hal Fitchett, Alan Castro, John Isabello, and Vernon Santos.
Attorney general officials said any of their cold case investigators assigned to a case would work directly with the agency from which the case originated, and that no arrest would be made without their cooperation.
"We're not trying to steal anyone's thunder here," said chief investigator Donald Wong. "We just want to make a good effort in solving these cases, and we have the advantage of not being distracted by active cases, which their investigators will have to chase when they pop up."
Bennett said when the unit is "up and running" sometime this fall, there will be two to three detectives and an attorney assigned to solving cold cases.
Maui Police Department Deputy Chief Kekuhaupio Akana said his detectives welcomed the help.
"We've got at least eight to 10 unsolved homicides here, probably more," he said. "Like detectives anywhere, ours are overwhelmed with our present caseload.
"Plus it helps to get a fresh mind and fresh resources to look at an old case. ... It's all about helping find justice for the victims."