Stabbing in Kalihi

Neighbors recount finding a woman, 39, in a pool of blood

Neighbors witnessed the dying moments of a 39-year- old Kalihi woman, allegedly stabbed Wednesday night by her husband, who has 27 criminal convictions.

The woman was identified as Jenny T. Hartsock by the Medical Examiner's Office.

Jason Guanio, 19, was outside when he heard a man yelling.

"I came running up the street and saw a guy running while he was yelling," said Guanio. He recognized Hartsock's husband running mauka on Gulick Avenue.

Guanio ran upstairs and found Hartsock "with a knife halfway through her chest in a puddle of blood." He ran to use a phone to call police, but by the time he returned, "she was gone," he said.

Police were called to 757 Gulick Ave. at 9:30 p.m., and Hartsock was pronounced dead at 9:38 p.m.

Officers at the scene were told a man matching the description of Hartsock's husband had stopped by Honolulu Fire Station No. 6 at North King and Kalihi streets and told firefighters someone had stabbed his wife.

Hartsock's husband was found nearby at King Street and Haka Drive, across from Farrington High School. He was arrested at 10:27 p.m. on suspicion of second-degree murder.

Sonny Heneralau, who lives next door to the couple's apartment, said he was engrossed in a TV movie when he heard Hartsock call out, "Sonny."

He opened the door and found her lying on his doorstep in a pool of blood with her husband bending over her body. The husband quickly got up and ran, he said.

"He had blood on him, too."

"He just started yelling like he was crazy," Heneralau said. "She had a big hole under her arm and a (14-inch kitchen) knife in her chest."

After calling 911, Heneralau said, "I got a towel, thinking I could stop the bleeding but when I saw her I knew I couldn't. The blood had already gone out. Poor thing. I felt so sorry for her."

Heneralau said her hand was trembling, but in seconds "she was gone. She died real fast."

The Medical Examiner's Office said Hartsock died due to stab wounds to the torso and was a victim of homicide.

Hartsock had been working about seven months as a clerk for Mercantile Trucking, where she made friends easily and was known as a good worker. Heneralau said prior to that job, she had been working two jobs -- as a secretary during the day and at a nursing home in Aiea at night.

"She was really respectful, plenty aloha," Heneralau said, adding she always said "hi" as she went to and from work.

Carmelo Guanio, 53, said, "This is not the first time they fight," and added that police had been called to the home before.

Hartsock's husband has been convicted of abuse of a family member in 1998, five counts of violation of a protective order in 1999 and 2000, first-degree burglary and second-degree assault in 2001, as well as robbery and drug charges.