Man dies after being stabbed in Ewa Beach home
Police are seeking a search warrant to enter the townhouse
Honolulu detectives were planning to search an Ewa Beach townhouse where a man in his 30s or 40s was fatally stabbed yesterday.
A patch of dried blood on the concrete landing of the unit at 91-1060 Mikohu St. marked the spot where the victim had been, and a smear of blood on a neighbor's door showed where he had banged for help before collapsing.
Paramedics took the man in critical condition to Hawaii Medical Center West, where he died, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city's Emergency Services Department.
"We're not really clear on exactly what happened here," said Honolulu police Lt. Bill Kato. "We don't even know who the victim is at this point. He's unidentified."
Detectives, who did not disclose the owner or renter of the unit yesterday, were seeking a search warrant before entering the unit.
"Somebody does live there. We don't know if that's the victim or what," Kato said. He added that no weapons had been found nor any suspects identified. A second-degree murder case has been opened in connection with the incident.
Police responded to a call of an argument at Palm Villas II at about 6:20 a.m. and found the victim with injuries in his upper torso lying on the grass, Kato said.
Witnesses told police that following the incident, a man ran into the parking lot and fled in a vehicle while another suspect of unknown gender walked toward the street.
Afterward, a broken handrail lay on the ground next to bloody paper towels and rubber gloves.
Residents of Palm Villas II, a townhouse community built in 1991, say it is usually quiet, with little crime.
"The last four years I've been here, it's been quiet," said Priscilla Olson, whose back patio faces the crime scene.
She said she was alerted when her dog started barking, and looked outside to see the victim, a stranger, leaning against the handrail. He was "holding his stomach and had blood all over him," Olson said.
Josephine Dumlao, who lives on a corner across from the incident, grabbed paper towels and rubber gloves to help.
"I hold the wound, pressing it," she said.
