A murder defendant named as the assailant by his dying victim says he killed in self-defense, the defendant's lawyer said yesterday.

 

  Man On Trial After Stabbing Cousin

 

  Tyler Condon says that he stabbed his cousin, 28-year old Jake Hale, in self-defense. 

 

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  Tyler Condon, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his cousin, Jake Ira Hale, at a Palm Villas II townhouse in Ewa on July 4, 2007.

Condon fell asleep in one of the units after picking up Hale in Makaha early that morning, said Eddie Aquino, Condon's lawyer, during opening arguments yesterday in the Circuit Court trial. When Condon woke up, Hale was on top of him, choking him and holding a sharp object to his body, Aquino said.

The two cousins struggled, and Condon went to the kitchen, got a knife and started swinging, Aquino said. “;He was merely defending himself,”; Aquino said. He said Condon left the townhouse in shock, stopped his car and threw up.

The state painted a different picture of what happened.

The physical evidence indicates that Hale was first stabbed in the back as he was lying down in the bedroom, said Franklin Pacarro, deputy city prosecutor. Hale had 5-inch-deep stab wounds in the middle and left side of his back, he said.

Hale got up and struggled toward the front door of the unit, where he was stabbed three more times, on the left side of his torso including his chest and abdomen, Pacarro said.

Neighbors who heard Hale's cries for help told police they saw Condon flee the townhouse. When they went to Hale's aid, they told police, Hale identified his “;cousin Tyler”; as the assailant. Condon died in an ambulance.

Police recovered the assailant's weapon, a kitchen knife, in the unit's toilet.

Both men had been in Hawaii for a few months. Hale arrived from Indiana in February to help another cousin who was a soldier at Schofield Barracks raise his children. Condon arrived from San Francisco in May to stay with Hale and Hale's cousin but was kicked out after some disagreements.

Condon's trial continues Monday in Judge Karen Ahn's courtroom. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.