Two men were charged last night in connection with the death of a 24-year-old Mililani man allegedly stemming from a dustup over an indoor marijuana crop in Makakilo.

Joshua R. Williams Jr., 25, and Michael Shawn Connolly, 24, were to make their initial appearances in Honolulu District Court today—charged with second-degree murder in the death of Mililani High School graduate Jamil Khan, missing since April 7.

Details of the case emerged yesterday in a police affidavit worthy of TV drama, with detectives searching a high school yearbook for clues and one suspect singeing his eyebrows as he allegedly turned the victim's vehicle into a fireball.

At the heart of the investigation is a marijuana farm allegedly run by Williams and Khan at Williams' house at 92-1141 Hooko Place in Makakilo.

The two had known each other since they were high school classmates and ran the operation for about two years, according to the affidavit, filed in court.

Problems arose about a year ago when Williams gave Khan marijuana to sell and Khan kept the money, the affidavit said. When Williams confronted Khan, Khan pulled a gun—one of more than a half-dozen firearms he owned, both registered and unregistered.

  Court Documents: Victim Knew 2 Suspects

 

Police charged two men with murder in the disappearance of a Mililani man.

 

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More recently, Williams and another man referred to as “;Buddah”; became upset with Khan because he was not contributing his share of the pot operation, the affidavit said.

Khan, for his part, told an acquaintance that he wanted to get out of the operation and start up another farm without the two men.

Williams told a friend that he had two options: move elsewhere or kill Khan. Williams said he wanted to kill him by “;stabbing him and then wrapping him in plastic,”; the affidavit said.

But when Khan arrived at the Makakilo house, Williams related, Connolly—a former roommate known as “;Big Mike”;—struck Khan in the chest with a hammer, the affidavit said. Both men continued to assault Khan until he lost consciousness.

Williams admitted to the acquaintance that they took him to the bathroom, where Williams' sliced Khan's throat.

Last Tuesday, Williams' friend saw him cleaning his trash bin with bleach.

“;I took care of that problem,”; Williams told him.

Khan's car was seen parked in Williams' garage with two red gasoline containers next to it.

“;Where would you burn the car?”; Williams asked, according to the affidavit. “;I'm gonna burn the car.”;

On Wednesday, Williams called an acquaintance to ask for a first-aid kit. He explained that he had doused Khan's car with gasoline and lit it using newspaper.

The resulting “;fireball”; burned his face and singed part of his eyebrows.

On Wednesday, Khan's green 1999 Isuzu Rodeo was discovered charred in a remote area near Waipio Point Access Road.

Williams also was charged with second-degree arson, first-degree commercial promotion of marijuana, third-degree promotion of dangerous drugs, unlawful use of paraphernalia and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle. Bail was set at $1 million each for Williams and Connolly.

Khan was last seen leaving his home at about 10:30 p.m. April 7.

Police were told at one point that Khan was seen with a Mililani High classmate, “;Jay Williams.”; When police looked through the 2003 yearbook, they found no Jay, but a Joshua Williams. The rest fell into place.

Detectives could not be reached for comment on whether Khan's body was recovered. According to a police affidavit, his body had not been located as of Saturday.

What a SWAT team did find Saturday at the Makakilo house was 219 marijuana plants, the affidavit said.

Khan's parents could not be reached for comment. Their Chinatown restaurant was closed last night.

Neighbor Nick Mizusawa described Khan as a nice person he would talk story with.

“;It's real sad,”; he said.