Police Beat
Advertiser Staff
Trial set for officer in wife's slaying
HILO, Hawai'i — A May 13 trial date has been set for Kona police officer Albert Pacheco, accused of shooting his wife to death in her car near their home in Waikoloa.
Pacheco, 45, appeared yesterday before Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura, who set a bail hearing for Feb. 13. County prosecutor Michael Udovic said he would contest any kind of release.
Friends of Cathalene Ann Pacheco, 42, said her husband had been abusing her and that she was not living at home when the shooting occurred Jan. 4.
Anthrax-letter suspect indicted
A 24-year-old O'ahu woman suspected of mailing phony anthrax letters to three Honolulu police stations, companies and individuals was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday.
The charges against Sharon Cardenas include using the U.S. mail to threaten 12 individuals or businesses and mailing five letters containing a white substance, which she indicated was powdered anthrax. She could be sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $250,000.
Man 'insane' when he stabbed sister
A Wai'anae man has been acquitted by reason of insanity of a murder charge for the stabbing of his sister more than three years ago.
Herbert Cruz, who had faced life in prison with the possibility of parole if convicted of murder, was committed Tuesday to the Hawai'i State Hospital by Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto. Cruz had been charged with murdering his sister, Lisa Cruz, 30, in August 1998.
Sakamoto, who presided over the jury-waived trial in September, said he was persuaded by testimony given by defense expert, psychologist Olaf Gitter, as well as Cruz' deteriorating condition and "bizarre conduct" after a motorcycle accident a few years before the attack on his sister.
Massage parlor owners indicted
The owners and operators of a Kapi'olani-area massage parlor were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on prostitution charges. Named in the 12-count indictment were Seon Hwa Kim, Kyong Cha Johnson, Yong Suk Longazel and John Pawn.
The indictment said R & R Massage hired a licensed massage therapist in late 1996 to give the business a legitimate appearance when, in fact, the firm was involved in prostitution through early 1999.
Couple arrested in baby's beating
A Kapahulu couple was arrested Saturday on first-degree assault charges after bringing a month-old infant to the hospital with head injuries.
Police said the baby, admitted to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, was suffering from bleeding in the brain.
