Posted on: Tuesday, September 17, 2002

19-year-old pleads guilty to Wai'anae murder last year

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

In a surprise move, a Wai'anae teenager pleaded guilty in Circuit Court yesterday to second-degree murder just minutes before he was scheduled to go on trial for the beating death of William Van Winkle at Wai'anae District Park last year.

Branden Adkins, 19, told Circuit Judge Sandra Simms that he "contributed to the death" of Van Winkle by beating and stomping him and kicking him in the head July 14, 2001.

A jogger found Van Winkle, 36, dead on one of the park's basketball courts a few hours later. He was wearing only a T-shirt; his shorts were found in a nearby trash can.

Witnesses told police that a group beat Van Winkle to death after he nearly ran into one of them on his bicycle.

Under state law, second-degree murder carries a life term with parole. In exchange for his guilty plea, the prosecution will drop a request that Adkins be given a life term without parole, based on the argument that Van Winkle's slaying was heinous, atrocious or cruel.

Simms ruled that a jury-waived trial for a second youth, Victor Nelson Faagau, who was also charged with second-degree murder in the case and who was supposed to begin trial yesterday with Adkins, will begin on Friday.

Faagau, 17, was 16 at the time Van Winkle was killed. He was ordered to stand trial on the murder charge after a Family Court judge waived jurisdiction in the case.