Woman identified her killer, police say

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

As Ruby Mabanag lay stabbed and bleeding outside her Wahiawa home Saturday, a police officer asked her who did it.

Her boyfriend, Samie Calaro, she said, according to a police affidavit. Two hours later Mabanag was dead.

Yesterday Calaro, 44, made his initial court appearance on a charge of second-degree murder. The court set his bail at $75,000.

Police arrested Calaro at about 8 a.m. Saturday at the house at 1635 Eames St. According to the affidavit released yesterday, Calaro was holding Mabanag at a rear doorway of the house. He had blood on his arms, feet and clothing.

Officer Reginald Caneda, pointing his gun at Calaro, ordered him to put Mabanag on the ground, the affidavit said.

Officer Theodore Merrill said Mabanag, 53, was lying on her back and that her face, chest and arms were covered with blood. Caneda said he saw stab wounds to her stomach and both forearms.

Merrill said he decided to conduct a quick interview of the injured woman to get a possible suspect before she lost consciousness. He asked her who stabbed her, her name and her Social Security number.

The interview was complete at 8:15 a.m. An ambulance took Mabanag to Wahiawa General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 9:52 a.m.

In 1990, Calaro was sentenced to 30 days in prison after pleading no contest to charges of abuse of a household or family member and second-degree terroristic threatening.

All but two days of the sentence were suspended and Calaro was ordered to attend domestic abuse counseling.

In an August 1991 letter to family court officials, Calaro's domestic violence counselors reported that he had attended 19 of the 24 sessions and that he got along well with other group members.

Advertiser staff writer David Waite contributed to this report.