Kidnappings and assaults fill Big Isle man's past

The man suspected of abandoning a woman in the forest after shooting her has history of violence

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HILO » Rodney Bohol Sr., held by Big Island police in the kidnapping, shooting and abandonment of a woman in a remote forest about a week ago, has a long criminal history with similar offenses in the past.

"Now you are going to know what death feels like," he allegedly told his ex-girlfriend and her children as he kidnapped them and recklessly drove them through a rainstorm in November 2000. Just a week later, he beat another woman, threatened to kill her and then kidnapped her and his own sister, eight months pregnant.

Bohol was sentenced to five years in prison in the first case and 10 years in the second case, but he was freed on parole in 2005.

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HILO » Rodney Bohol Sr.'s relationships with women have been, to put it mildly, tumultuous.

Now held in a Big Island attempted-murder case, Bohol, 35, has a record of kidnapping, assaults and threats that dates to 1993. Police have brought a total of 34 criminal cases against him, court documents show.

His behavior was so bizarre at one point that his attorney, Harry Eliason, obtained mental exams from three doctors in 2000. Eliason noted that Bohol was placed on antipsychotic medications while he was in custody, and his behavior improved.

On the evening of Nov. 7, 2000, Bohol punched an acquaintance, Karlena Dasalla, in the body and face and slammed her head into a car door, according to court documents.

"If you try to leave, I'll kill you, you f---- bitch," he told the woman.

His relationship with Dasalla was not clear, since the documents refer to a different woman as his girlfriend.

In any case, after smashing Dasalla against the door, he threatened to kill his eight-months-pregnant sister, Shelly Bohol, if she did not drive him and Dasalla around Hilo.

As Shelly Bohol drove, Rodney Bohol reached from the back seat and inexplicably covered her nose and mouth so she could not breathe, the documents say. Eventually, she escaped.

Since Sunday, Bohol has been held by police in a case involving a 23-year-old woman who was found wounded and wandering in a wooded area of the Big Island. He and two other people allegedly kidnapped the woman south of Hilo, drove her 60 miles to a remote forest, then shot and abandoned her.

Police have not released a motive.

The victim was found Friday and is recovering. Bohol must be charged or released today.

His accomplices have not been arrested.

Just a week before assaulting Dasalla, Bohol attacked another woman, Clarisse Yamamoto, identified as his ex-girlfriend, according to documents in a different case. In that case, he forced Yamamoto and her four children into her car and drove recklessly through a stormy night.

"Now you are going to know what death feels like," he told Yamamoto.

He said he did not care if the children were killed. "I no care if they die, as not my kids," he allegedly said.

But the documents indicate he had visitation rights to at least one of the children, because he was also charged with violating strict, court-determined visiting conditions. Documents say he has five children of his own.

In each case, Bohol accepted deals in which he entered no-contest pleas to a reduced number of charges. He was sentenced to 10 years for kidnapping and five years each for three other charges. He was paroled in 2005.

The documents indicate a single voice of support for Bohol: friend Kalani Saiki, who knew him from school days.

Saiki said Bohol was the class clown, never even smoked cigarettes and had never been known to be violent.

"He's a really mellow guy," Saiki said. "Somebody must be setting him up."

The mental health reports in 2000 are not part of the public record.