A man convicted last year of the 1993 abduction, rape and murder of a Big Island high school girl must spend a minimum 50 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
The Hawai‘i Paroling Authority set the minimum term for Richard Damien Serrano, 30, found guilty in May 2000 of murdering Sequoya Vargas, 16. Serrano was convicted of raping and beating Vargas and then throwing her off a sea cliff on the Puna coast.
Serrano fled from the Big Island and was a fugitive for nearly six years. He was found in Mexico in 1999 and extradited to the Big Island for prosecution.
Big Island Circuit Judge Riki May Amano sentenced Serrano to consecutive life terms with the possibility of parole on the second-degree murder and kidnapping convictions. He also was sentenced to two 10-year terms for the two sexual assault convictions.
Other minimum terms handed down by the Hawai‘i Paroling Authority include:
Calvin Elizares, life without parole for his April 2000 conviction of attempting to kill two people on Maui in 1998 because one of them owed him drug money. A Maui Circuit judge sentenced Elizares to life for attempting to kill Daniel Legsay and Legsay’s girlfriend, Maryann Basso.
Elizares also was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for kidnapping.
In 1979, Elizares was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he admitted his involvement in the killing of an inmate. At the time, he was in prison for two armed robberies of cab drivers.
Kevin Kurasaki, five years of a five-year sentence for sexually molesting an 11-year-old girl. The former Mililani Mauka Elementary School teacher pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual assault last year. Kurasaki admitted molesting the girl three times from December 1998 to March 1999.
Mark Tynes, 15 years of a 20-year term for manslaughter. Tynes pleaded guilty last year for the 1999 death of a homeless man in Chinatown.
Gregory Norem, seven years of a 20-year term for a reckless manslaughter conviction. Norem was convicted of the Dec. 28, 1998, death of Jay Baird, whose body was found near Honolulu Airport.
Addison Cabanting, 10 years of a 20-year term for a manslaughter conviction. Cabanting was found guilty of stabbing to death Alexander Faleafine on Sept. 13, 1999, in Kalihi.
