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Double murder suspect
says he tried diplomacy
He claims he wanted to get rival
gambling factions to calm down
A Makaha man accused in a double murder at the Pali Golf Course on Jan. 7 said he brought along a gun but never meant to shoot or kill anyone.
Rodney Joseph Jr., 35, told police he was trying to smooth over increasing tensions between his and four rival factions that were providing security at two underground gambling rooms in Honolulu.
"Apparently, jealous and stuff start kicking in, and before you know it, get one silent uprising behind my back," he said. "My understanding is, they was having silent meetings, you know, behind-my-back kinda meetings that they going take me out."
A 75-page transcript of the statement Joseph gave to police the day after the shootings revealed some of the conflicts that apparently resulted in the killing of two rival security members and the wounding of another.
Joseph, his cousin Ethan Motta, 34, and Kevin Gonsalves, 33, are facing trial in Circuit Court on multiple murder charges in the death of Lepo Taliese, 44, Taliese's brother-in-law Romelius Corpuz, 40, and the wounding of Corpuz's brother, Tino Sao, 42.
Circuit Judge Michael Town tossed out Joseph's statement this week, finding that he was misled by his then-attorney Chris Evans and did not voluntarily waive his constitutional right to remain silent.
Deputy Prosecutor Lucianne Khalaf had said that the ruling will not affect prosecution of the case because it was "self-serving."
Joseph gave police the following information in his statement:
He had begun carrying a gun a couple months earlier because of alleged threats against him by rival factions. "Cuz I was scared, and I never know if these guys going ambush me one day when I by myself."
He had heard about the friction among the security factions about six months earlier when a close friend, Raymond Gomes Jr., asked for his help. Gomes, who was working security at one game room, had been badly beaten up on July 30, 2003, by rival security posing as police. Gomes needed someone to act as a buffer to try and smooth things over, and Joseph knew Gomes' attacker.
Gomes was also angry at Taliese, the head of the security group he was working for at the time, because he was not doing anything about the other groups trying to run them out.
Just two days before the Pali shootings, tensions were still simmering. And Joseph, who was increasingly favored to provide security at the game rooms because of his ability to smooth out problems before they got out of hand, was feeling the pressure.
About 20 men allegedly aligned with Taliese's security group each showed up at two underground game rooms -- one on Kalakaua Avenue and the other on Kapiolani Boulevard -- and began strong-arming the security Joseph had hired.
"They came over and took over the security and threw the guys that we had there -- threw them out."
While he was not there to see it, he was told the men had weapons. One of them was caught on a security camera pointing a gun at the camera.
"So they took over the place. I never went down there. I never like go down there cuz I was already getting the threats that they was going take me out."
"So I'm thinking this is beginning ... getting too heavy, you know, and threats and stuff is getting too heavy."
Joseph wrestled over what to do and seriously contemplated getting out after hearing about a better job offer. It was either let the rivals take over or try to smooth things out.
He saw his chance when he and Motta attended the Jan. 7 funeral of Raymond Gomes Sr., the father of a close friend. Members of the rival group also attended, so Joseph asked Gonsalves, a friend who worked under Taliese before Joseph had come into the picture, to set up a meeting. Gonsalves returned saying they had agreed and instructed them to meet at the Pali Golf Course.
Joseph and Motta drove to the upper-level parking lot and parked facing the bluff. A van that followed them from the funeral pulled into a stall a few spaces away, and to his surprise a large group of males emerged. He did not know others besides Taliese were going to be there. "Knowing how heavy this guy Lepo is, I never know if I was going get killed or I was going get beat down or what, mobbed."
As he stood outside his car door, three of the males from the van approached him, and two others went toward Motta. Joseph said he heard words exchanged, then they rushed him at the same time he heard a gun go off on Motta's side of the car.
Joseph said he backed into the open car door and grabbed the .380-caliber gun he had placed on his car seat when he got out, not knowing what to expect.
"I blanked out. I just fired as I started to get up, and that was it." When he finally came to, the men were gone.
He realized Motta was back in the car, so they drove back to the funeral. As they were pulling out of the golf course, he noticed Gonsalves in his back seat but did not recall how or when he got there. Gonsalves did not catch a ride with them to the golf course.
Gonsalves and Motta got out of his car at the cemetery, but Joseph drove home. "Then everything was coming to me: Oh my God, what had happened? I never know what went happen cuz I never see no bodies."
Joseph said he was not even thinking when he was firing the gun. "I was just firing the gun to defend myself."
Later, he could not even see. He denied aiming at anyone specifically, just in the direction that they were coming.
He did not know how many times he fired or whether he had shot anyone, because he never saw anyone on the ground when they drove away.
Motta left his gun in the car when he got out. Before turning himself in, Joseph melted both his and Motta's gun at a movie production shop at Campbell Industrial Park owned by a friend, George Cambra Jr.
