Posted on: Thursday, June 20, 2002

Puna slaying trial set for Oct. 21

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — An Oct. 21 trial date has been set for Kyle Zengy Thurston Hill, one of two suspects charged with killing two young men with a rifle last month in Puna.

Hill, 19, and John McGovern, 18, are accused of shooting Cassidy M. Toole, 20, and Wesley Alan Matheson, 19, on May 6 at the victims' Fern Acres home. No motive for the killing has been revealed, although the suspects were acquainted with the victims.

Hill and McGovern are charged with first-degree murder, which carries a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, as well as two counts each of second-degree murder.

Hill appeared yesterday for a brief arraignment before Hilo Circuit Court Judge Greg Nakamura, who set his trial date. A preliminary hearing for McGovern will be June 28 in Hilo District Court.

Police said the defendants gave separate but similar confessions in which they admitted shooting Toole and Matheson once each with a rifle. McGovern is additionally charged with stealing Toole's Honda Civic.

The victims' bodies were found by a police officer in a nearby empty lot after a three-week search.