Posted on: Thursday, May 23, 2002

Six Chinese sailors remain for trial of cook

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

It appears six sailors from the People's Republic of China who have been detained for the past two months by federal authorities so they could be questioned about a double homicide aboard a fishing ship will remain in Honolulu so they can testify at trial. Four were released from custody yesterday and two more are expected to be released today.

The men will likely be called as witnesses in the trial of Lei Shi, 21, who is accused of the stabbing deaths of the captain and first-mate aboard a Taiwanese fishing vessel on March 13 in international waters southeast of the Big Island.

Thirty crewmen have been held at the federal detention center near Honolulu International Airport so prosecutors and defense lawyers could question them about the killings aboard the Full Means No. 2.

Shi is accused of fatally stabbing the two men after he was demoted from cook to deck hand and having his demands that the boat return to China rejected. The ship is owned by a Taiwan company and the captain was from Taiwan, but the others come from the People's Republic of China.

Loretta Sheehan, one of the assistant U.S. attorneys assigned to the case, said lawyers are finished taking depositions from the 30 crewmen and that 24 of them are scheduled to return to China on Tuesday.

While they were housed at the federal detention center, each of the men received free food and shelter and a $40-a-day allowance. That compares with wages of $200 to $400 a month they were promised aboard the fishing ship. They have not been paid even though they were at sea for more than a year.

Sheehan said a private individual has offered to let the Chinese fishermen stay at a house he owns in an undisclosed location on O'ahu for four to six weeks. In addition, stipends of $100 a week will be paid to each of the men for four weeks.

After that, however, the men will likely have to fend for themselves, Sheehan said. "We've got job interviews lined up for them, some with a construction company and some on a farm," she said.

Volunteers from a private organization that works to promote goodwill between the United States and China have agreed to take the men under their wing while they are here.

The four men who were preparing to walk out of the federal courthouse at about noon yesterday to get their first full taste of American democracy were wary of too much media exposure. Each held a 1-foot-square cardboard box containing personal belongings. Other belongings were placed in storage while the men were at the detention center.

When asked through an interpreter if they were happy to be released and to have a chance to experience life in America, each of the men smiled and said, "Of course."

Sheehan said the government has agreed to allow the men to remain in the United States only so long as they might be called as witnesses at Shi's trial.