Posted on: Saturday, December 15, 2001

Man arrested in girlfriend's fall to death

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

A 52-year-old Kaimuki man who was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of his girlfriend had bite marks and scratches on his body, indicators that he was involved in a possible domestic altercation, police said yesterday.

The man's 41-year-old girlfriend fell 11 floors to her death Thursday morning from a room in the Ohana Waikiki Surf East Hotel, 422 Royal Hawaiian Ave., and was found dressed only in her underwear, police said.

"Obviously there was some kind of argument, they ended up outside in the hallway and she ended up going over the railing," said Lt. Bill Kato, a homicide investigator with the Honolulu Police Department. "Whether he assisted her in doing that, we need to determine that."

Kato said someone had bitten the man below his right eye and right shoulder and scratched him on the center of his back. Police said the man called 911 and told a dispatcher that his girlfriend jumped, Kato said.

According to police, neighbors were awakened by sounds of an argument in the hotel room shortly before 3 a.m. Thursday.

The woman was found lifeless in the parking lot 11 floors below a short time later, and the death was first reported as a possible suicide.

But when investigators found that the man's own injuries and the condition of the room indicated signs of a struggle, they placed him under arrest. Police said they also found what was believed to be crack cocaine inside the couple's room.

The man, who is unemployed and lives on 11th Avenue, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder at 5:50 a.m. Thursday at the hotel, police said.