LIHU‘E — After four weeks of jury selection, the first-degree murder trial of Vicente Kote Kapika Hilario started Monday in 5th Circuit Court. The 16-member jury, including four alternates, is comprised of nine women and seven men. Fifth Circuit Chief
LIHU‘E — After four weeks of jury selection, the first-degree murder trial of Vicente Kote Kapika Hilario started Monday in 5th Circuit Court. The 16-member jury, including four alternates, is comprised of nine women and seven men.
Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Randal Valenciano is presiding over the case. County Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Melinda Mendes and Ramsey Ross are representing the state of Hawai‘i in the case. Court-appointed defense attorney Keith Shigetomi is representing Hilario.
Hilario is charged with the first-degree murder of Aureo Moore, 34, of Kapa‘a, at Anahola Beach Park around 11 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2010.
Hilario is also charged with second-degree murder as a jury alternative to the first-degree murder charge, retaliating against a witness, intimidating a witness, and bribery of a witness.
Testimony on Tuesday started with Kaua‘i Police Detective Shane Sokei, who was one of the detectives called to the murder scene.
Court testimony revealed that Sokei was also the responding officer to the Aug. 22, 2010, gun-point robbery of Moore on the pedestrian bridge between two supermarket plazas in Waipouli. The robbery included 54 morphine sulfate pills and 160 oxycodone tablets, he said.
The robbery charges against Hilario, who was allegedly the driver while the other suspect reportedly discharged a firearm in the crime without injury, were initially dismissed at an October 2010 preliminary hearing in 5th District Court. Two drug charges and four firearms charges were re-filed against Hilario on Dec. 27, 2012, and that case is scheduled to follow the murder trial in May.
At the murder scene on Dec. 17, Sokei said he noted that two of the three robbery suspects, Hilario and David Manaku, were not incarcerated and an all-points bulletin followed. He also testified that two juvenile witnesses identified Hilario in separate photo lineups from similar-looking suspects.
Answering a question from Mendes, Sokei confirmed that one of the other suspects in the photo lineup was no longer living.
Sokei testified to three cell phones that were taken into evidence for the murder case. Two belonged to Moore.
One was found in Moore’s pocket, and Sokei was alerted to another that he retrieved from the residence of Moore’s friend in Kapa‘a. The third phone in evidence was taken from David Manaku.
Two other witnesses on Tuesday included Brehdan Kamibayashi and Austin Kekoa Alfiler. They were returning from a morning dive at an area called Crack 14 that is just south of Flat Reef and Anahola Beach Park.
The two recalled they were turning from a back road when they saw three men running and then stop and walk as the two drove by them in their truck around 11:30 a.m.
They said the first man was the tallest, with long hair and a pony tail. The third man was described as dark, overweight and breathing heavy from running.
They said the second man had a sweatshirt with a “hoodie” who kept his face turned down and away toward the ocean. They were not able to identify this person, but were able to identify the other men in a photo lineup.
Kamibayashi was 16 at the time and had difficulty recalling specific details such as color and type of clothing. He did recall that it seemed odd the men were running without footwear on a road full of gravel and broken glass.
Alfiler had a more clear recollection and recalled the first and third men had no shirts and wore dark shorts. The third man had red eyes and was sweating and looked at them, he said.
About five minutes later, according to Kamibayashi, or 10 minutes, according to Alfiler, they drove into a line of about 10 police officers with guns drawn. The two were questioned for about 15 minutes and their descriptions of the three men matched the police information.
“Everything was in slow motion,” said Kamibayashi. “I didn’t know what to do. They told us there was a shooting at Anahola Beach Park and that a couple of guys were running this way. It was a shock to us.”
The final witness for the day was Danillo Abadilla, who was a lieutenant at Kaua‘i Police Department’s Investigative Services Bureau. He was the back-up crime photographer called to photograph the crime scene the day of the murder and for several days following.
Mendes said there were 314 photos regarding the Moore murder case. None were shown to the jury Tuesday.
Shigetomi questioned Abadilla about the photo locations. The retired detective replied that the photos were taken at various locations of Anahola Beach Park and that photos of the gun in question and other items were taken at Kaua‘i Police Department.
The gun did not have a serial number or other markings and had several scratches where the serial numbers should have been, Abadilla said.
Testimony on Monday included Cheryl Corneal, Rusty Ah Loo and Kaua‘i Police Officer Chad Cataluna.
The trial continues today and is expected to last at least four more weeks.
