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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff
and wire service
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Bail set at $1 million in alleged murder plot
Bail has been raised to $1 million each for three Maui men held in an alleged murder-for-hire plot that involved a love triangle.
A Maui grand jury indicted Aniano Yabo, Ronald Bonilla and Lawrence Dexter Verzosa yesterday on charges of first-degree attempted murder. The three are scheduled to be arraigned Monday before Maui Circuit Judge Joel August.
Yabo, 41, is charged with hiring Bonilla and Verzosa for $3,550 to beat and kill Leonardo Rojas-Reyes.
Rojas-Reyes, 33, who was romantically involved with Yabo's estranged wife, Ethel, was kidnapped by the two men after Bonilla posed as a police officer, authorities allege. But Rojas-Reyes persuaded the two men to let him go if he gave them $100,000, police said. Once released, Rojas-Reyes talked to police, who arrested the three men.
Bonilla was charged with first-degree attempted murder, kidnapping, first-degree attempted extortion and second-degree robbery, in addition to two firearm charges and a charge of impersonating a police officer. Verzosa was charged with first-degree attempted murder, kidnapping, first-degree attempted extortion and second-degree robbery. Yabo was charged with first-degree attempted murder.
Sand replenishment could start in 2 weeks
The Kuhio Beach sand replenishment project could start the week after Thanksgiving, state officials said yesterday.
By then, long-term surf forecasts suggest a return to more typical winter surf conditions on south-facing shores, according to a Department of Land and Natural Resources release.
The project has been delayed repeatedly by high surf. Contractor American Marine Corp. needs a period without high surf to set up the operation and begin pumping sand from offshore to a holding area on Kuhio Beach, DLNR Director Peter Young said in the release.
If the demonstration project is successful, the method could be used in other areas that need sand replenishment. The Kuhio project is expected to take 20 to 30 days.
Laie Point to be hooked into city's sewer system
Homes on Laie Point that depend on cesspools to handle their sewage will be hooked into the city's sewer system under an agreement reached with the former operators of the Laie Water Reclamation Facility.
On Nov. 1 the city took over operation of the Laie waste-water facility, built by Hawaii Reserves Inc.
The system serves more than 400 homes in Laie, according to the city.
The addition of Laie Point will add another 200 homes, the city said.
The agreement ends years of negotiations over whether all or just some of the homes in Laie will be hooked into the system.
