Posted on: Saturday, December 7, 2002

Wai'anae youth guilty of manslaughter

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A 17-year-old Wai'anae youth was found guilty yesterday of manslaughter in connection with last year's slaying of William Van Winkle, whose partially clad body was found by a jogger on the Wai'anae District Park basketball courts.

Circuit Judge Sandra Simms, who presided over a jury-waived trial, concluded that Faagau "repeatedly stomped, kicked, beat and killed Mr. Van Winkle" merely "for the fun of it" while in the midst of an "ice-induced high."

Faagau had been charged with murder, but Simms said because some of the evidence presented during his trial was contradictory, she could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that Faagau's actions amounted to murder.

A second Wai'anae teenager, Branden Adkins, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case on Sept. 16, just minutes before he was scheduled to go on trial. Adkins, 19, told Circuit Judge Sandra Simms that he "contributed to the death" of Van Winkle by beating and stomping him and kicking him in the head.

Witnesses told police that a group beat Van Winkle to death July 14 last year after he nearly ran into one of them on his bicycle.

Adkins faces life in prison with the possibility of parole when he is sentenced Feb. 11. Faagau faces up to 20 years when he is sentenced April 22.

Faagau was 16 at the time Van Winkle was killed. He was ordered to stand trial on the murder charge after a Family Court judge waived jurisdiction in the case. Family Court also waived jurisdiction on two other youths involved in the beating, who were found guilty of second-degree assault.

A fifth youth was tried as a juvenile and no information is available about the outcome of that case.

Except for sentencing, the guilty verdict against Faagau ends prosecution of all of the defendants charged in connection with Van Winkle's death.

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