Food complaint revealed in fatal stabbing of caretaker

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A police dispatcher said in District Court yesterday that she got a call at about 3 p.m. Sunday from a resident of a Waipahu care home who wanted to report a fatal stabbing.

Emily Rauschenburg, accused of murder, attends a preliminary hearing into the stabbing at the care home. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

The women caller identified herself as Emily Rauschenburg and said she had stabbed care home operator Agapita Alcaraz with a dinner knife, Kaiwi said.

Kaiwi said Rauschenburg told her that dissatisfaction with food at the home led to the stabbing.

"She told me, 'I give that woman $1,000 a month and she uses it to buy junk food,'" Kaiwi said.

Kaiwi said she was able to keep the caller on the line until police arrived at the care home on Kahualena street where Alcaraz's body was found.

After hearing testimony from Kaiwi and other prosecution witnesses, District Judge Tenney Tongg ordered Rauschenburg to stand trial in Circuit Court on a charge of murdering the 64-year-old Alcaraz.

Rauschenburg, 55, who is being held at O'ahu Community Correctional Center with bail set at $250,000, said nothing and occasionally wiped away tears during the hearing. In a conversation with her lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Gary Oakes, after the hearing, Rauschenburg seemed concerned about what will happen to her clothes and other belongings that remain at the care home.

Rauschenburg, who has a history of mental illness and drug abuse, was acquitted by reason of insanity when she faced charges of murder and attempted murder related to setting fire to a Makiki residence that killed a man in 1984.

She was committed to the state hospital in Kane'ohe and was later granted a conditional release. The Health Department and adult probation officials were charged with continuing to monitor her.

Alcaraz's daughter said her mother was never told that Rauschenburg, who moved into Alcaraz's care home about six months ago, had a criminal history.

Yesterday, police officer Ryan Matsuda testified at Rauschenburg's hearing that he was sent to the care home and called her name several times from outside the house but got no response.

Matsuda said he entered the house and had gone past a kitchen area when Rauschenburg startled him by coming out of an adjacent bedroom. He estimated that Rauschenburg was between 2 to 4 feet away and had a bloody kitchen knife raised above her head, with the pointed end facing him.

Matsuda said he backed away quickly, drew his gun, pointed it at Rauschenburg and ordered her several times to put the knife down. He said she dropped the knife "after numerous warnings."

"She told me, 'She's a crook. That lady is a crook.'"

Matsuda said he later found Alcaraz's body lying in a pool of blood in a courtyard area of the home.

Dr. Mary Flynn, who performed an autopsy on Alcaraz, said she listed the cause of death as loss of blood into the chest cavity caused by a stab wound to the chest.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.