Advertiser Staff
Man, 19, admits role in beating
A 19-year-old man who was initially charged with murder pleaded guilty yesterday in Circuit Court to a lesser charge of first-degree assault for his role in the fatal beating of Vaovai Faateleupu outside a Waipahu 7-Eleven store in 1999.
As part of the plea agreement, Tali Fai will be sentenced Feb. 12 to a maximum 10 years in prison and a concurrent maximum term of 10 years for an unrelated robbery charge, said his attorney,
Keith Shigetomi, who called the agreement a "fair resolution."
"Given all the circumstances of the case and the posture of the case, we believe (the plea agreement) is a fair and reasonable disposition," said city Deputy Prosecutor Glenn Kim.
Matthew Palaita, 18, also was charged with murder in the Aug. 6, 1999, beating of Faateleupu, 20. In July, Palaita pleaded guilty to manslaughter and to a separate charge of second-degree robbery committed while he was free on bond in the beating case. The agreement calls for Palaita to be given a maximum 20-year term. He will be sentenced in May.
Soldier guilty of molestation
A Schofield Barracks military police officer has pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of child molestation and faces 15 years in prison on each of the charges when he is sentenced April 30.
William Hayes, 36, was charged with molesting two girls, both younger than 16 years old, at his Schofield Barracks home.
Hayes admitted in court on Thursday to having sex with one of the girls from January 1997 to February 1999, and to molesting the other girl, on one occasion, sometime near September 1997.
Hayes’ wife, Janice, 35, pleaded guilty last year to charges of providing false statements to federal investigators looking into the molestation reports. She faces up to five years imprisonment when she is sentenced Feb. 20.
Woman sought in stolen identity case
Authorities need the public’s assistance in identifying another woman in a stolen identity case.
The woman thief constructed a computer-generated Hawai‘i driver’s license and computer-generated checks reflecting the victim’s personal information, police said. The thief also obtained lines of credit from various credit card companies since October 2000, police said.
The thief listed on the fake driver’s license as a physical description of herself: Oriental female, 5 feet 5, 139 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, beauty mark on her right cheek and birth date of Oct. 15, 1966. The information is not consistent with the victim’s birth date, physical description and age, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
Healing Heart program to debut
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Pearlridge center Uptown, the community will be introduced to the Queen’s Heart Institute’s new Healing Heart program and its innovative coupon book for everything from yoga and massage to journal writing and Hawaiian quilting — all designed to promote wellness.
For the first half-hour, Moe Keale and his band will perform, followed by Halau ‘O Kuulei Aloha and kumu hula Maunalei Love from 12:30 to 1 p.m.
Healing Heart coupon books will be available, along with prize drawings, t-shirts and wellness books.
The coupon book is a complementary medical approach to self-care, particularly, but not only for, those recovering from heart disease.
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