Benjamin Davis apparently smoked some marijuana that had been spiked with LSD before he allegedly stabbed two hikers at Koko Head Crater on Feb. 1, says a friend.

Family, Friends Rally Around Accused Man

 

Friends of Benjamin Davis say they've never seen signs of mental illness before he disappeared the night before the crime.

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Davis is a “;totally normal guy,”; music promoter Michael Kratzke said after a preliminary hearing in Honolulu District Court jammed yesterday with friends and relatives of Davis.

“;Everybody who's come out to support him, we're here for a reason: because we're trying to show to people that he's not like this,”; said Kratzke, who said he had been promoting Davis as a rap artist and a positive role model for kids in public housing.

District Judge Edwin Nacino ordered Davis to stand trial in state court for first-degree attempted murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder. He ordered Davis to appear in Circuit Court for arraignment.

The two hikers who were stabbed at the top of Koko Crater Trail identified Davis as their attacker.

California resident Guy Tanaka pointed to Davis, 19, in court yesterday during the preliminary hearing.

The other victim, Nicholas Iwamoto, identified Davis in a photographic lineup at the Queen's Medical Center, where he continues to receive treatment for his injuries, said Peter Boyle, a Honolulu police detective.

Davis remains in custody unable to post $100,000 bail.

Boyle said a lifeguard at Sandy Beach remembers seeing Davis leave some items at the lifeguard tower that Sunday. He said police recovered a notebook, some job applications and clothes.

Tanaka said the only clothing Davis was wearing when he attacked him was boxer shorts.

Police later found Davis in a tree wearing one shoe but otherwise nude. Boyle said police recovered a matching shoe at the top of the trail where Tanaka said Davis attacked him.

Boyle said Iwamoto suffered multiple stab wounds to his head, chest, abdomen and both hands. He said Iwamoto had stab wounds or cuts to the left temporal artery and left jugular vein and two collapsed lungs. He also suffered skull and neck fractures.

But Iwamoto's most serious injuries are to his liver and diaphragm, Boyle said. He has a cast on his right hand, a tube in his throat to help him breathe and sensors on his left hand, Boyle added.

The treating physician told him cuts to Iwamoto's face will cause permanent disfigurement and that he would have died without medical intervention, Boyle said.

Boyle said Tanaka's treating physician told him Tanaka suffered a single stab wound to his back and that the blade punctured his chest wall and entered his lung.