Man on trial for roofer's 1986 slaying in Kalihi bar

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A dispute over a derelict automobile that was towed away led to the shooting death of a roofer at a Kalihi bar more than 14 years ago, Deputy City Prosecutor Wayne Tashima said yesterday.

A trial on murder and weapons charges opened yesterday in Circuit Court for Joseph R. "Binzo" Victorino, accused of shooting 49-year-old Michael Maher on Nov. 22, 1986, at the PWC Lounge at 294 Kalihi St.

Prosecutors said Maher confronted Victorino, who he believed took tools and other items from the towed car, and that led to the shooting.

Victorino's lawyer, Richard Hoke, said Victorino shot at Maher in self-defense, but never intended to kill him. Hoke said evidence in the case will show that his client fired a .22-caliber handgun at Maher in self-defense and went to the airport hours later to flee Hawai'i. Hoke said the pistol used to kill Maher had been among the items in the car that was towed.

Victorino was arrested in November in Kitsap County, Wash., and extradited to Hawai'i. He is being held on $55,000 bond. Police say he was using the name of a dead person. He was reindicted on murder and weapons charges by an O'ahu grand jury in February.

In his opening statement, Tashima said evidence will show that Victorino walked into the bar at a little past 9 p.m., slapped Maher twice, reached into his pants pocket, took out a pistol and shot Maher in the chest.

Hoke said in his opening statement that two of Victorino's employees had been at the bar earlier and that Maher was abusive, accusing the men and Victorino of stealing items from a car that had been towed from Maher's lot on Sand Island to a salvage yard Victorino operated.

Hoke said the two employees left the bar and told Victorino what had happened and that Victorino went to the bar to try to settle the dispute with Maher. When Victorino pulled up a bar stool next to Maher, who was much larger, Maher unexpectedly punched Victorino in the side of the head and continued to pummel him, breaking Victorino's dentures and watch crystal, Hoke said.

"From the moment he said (to Maher), 'You want to talk to me,' he was beaten into the ground," Hoke said.

He said Victorino had never fired a gun before the night Maher was shot. Hoke said Victorino had found the gun in an old briefcase that was left in the car and had begun carrying the gun for protection.

Hoke said Victorino would have returned the gun to Maher along with "some old, rusty tools" that were taken from the car before it was scrapped, but Maher never asked for them.