Round Top isolation draws dark deeds
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
There are no flowers or crosses to mark the spot where a jogger discovered the body of Taaviliga Panapa on Monday, but residents who drive by the 5-mile marker on the side of Round Top Drive know this is where the most recent crime victim was found in the exclusive neighborhood.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
A number of bodies have been found in the Mount Tantalus area over the years — most the outcome of murder or suicide. Police say the area is secluded, very dark and quiet at night, and close to urban Honolulu, all of which add up to a place that is difficult for police to patrol and perfect to dump a body — or commit a murder.
The discovery of Taaviliga Panapa's body Monday drew investigators to Round Top Drive near the 5-mile marker. Medical examiners have determined that he died from a head injury.
"Not many people are up there in the middle of the night," said police Capt. Ed Nishi. "In some areas it's pitch-black. You cannot see your hand in front of your face. It is dark, secluded and just right for anyone to go up there and do whatever they want to do."
Lisa Au, whose body was found dumped down a Mount Tantalus roadside embankment on Jan. 31, 1982, is perhaps the most notable of the victims found in the area. Her killer has never been found.
Since 1990, eight more bodies, including that of Panapa, were found by hikers, joggers and residents.
Panapa, 61, who had no known local address, was found partially covered with a trash bag and showed evidence of having been beaten on the head, according to Lt. Bill Kato, a homicide investigator.
The city medical examiner performed an autopsy and determined that the head injury killed the victim; the case is now considered a homicide.
Forensic examination of Panapa's remains also turned up evidence of neck compression, said Susan Siu, lead investigator at the medical examiner's office. The examination hasn't produced a time of death, Siu said, but there was no evidence that the body had lain there for long.
Tantalus Drive connects near the top of the road with Round Top Drive, creating a 10-mile, winding mountain stretch that also has problems with speeding, roadside parties and drug dealing, said Nishi.
"There are certain drug transactions that take place in secluded areas — not saying this latest body is drug-related — but if there is a transaction taking place, they like to do it in a secluded area," Nishi said. "If there is any revenge taking place, they will do that there as well. Or if they are upset at someone and want to 'take them for a ride,' it could be there."
Still, the people who live in the million-dollar homes behind the gated entrances that line the upper reaches of the road are not afraid.
Tantalus Community Association member John Steelquist said residents do not live in fear because most of the crime is brought in by outsiders so residents are not usually the victims.
"Residents would complain more about noise," Steelquist said. "If you ask the residents what they are concerned about dumping, it's not bodies, it's household trash."
The community association does quarterly roadside cleanups. Along with litter, cigarette butts and beer containers, the residents remove old couches, televisions and refrigerators.
"Rather than take the time to go to (the dump), people come up here," Steelquist said. "Are we concerned about crime? Yes. Is the crime against residents? Not any more than anyplace else."
Nishi said the isolated nature of the area makes it hard to patrol.
"Once an officer goes up there, he is committed to being up there for at least a half-hour before he can come back down. Not to say we don't go up there. I tell my guys I want sweeps up there constantly."
The area was also in the headlines in 1990 when a series of night robberies and beatings took place between 10:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. at the secluded lookouts and parks. Several teenagers were arrested and convicted of the crimes.
Today, most of the lookouts are closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., which allows police to stop and check out anyone there. The teenage crime problem has not returned.
