Posted on: Tuesday, September 17, 2002

Kaua'i man sues over murder allegations

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A Kaua'i man who said police described him as the prime suspect in attacks that left two women dead and another seriously injured has filed a lawsuit against the county, police officers and two media organizations.

Waldorf Roy Wilson II, represented by attorney Richard N. Wurdeman, filed the suit in Kaua'i Circuit Court against Kaua'i Police Chief George Freitas; officers William Ching, Roy Asher, Marvin Riveira and Sam Sheldon; Honolulu Magazine, the Garden Island newspaper and reporters Joan Conrow and Dennis Wilken.

The suit said Wilson was harassed by police and falsely defamed. The defendants either could not be reached or declined to comment.

The suit said police believed Wilson was the prime suspect in attacks on West Kaua'i, but Wilson insisted that he was not involved and that "no competent evidence linked him" to the crimes.

The body of Lisa Bissell, 38, was found April 7, 2000, in a ditch in the Mana area of West Kaua'i, where it had apparently been dumped after she was sexually attacked and killed.

A month and a half later, on May 22, 2000, a 52-year-old woman was attacked at the beachfront home where she worked in Kekaha. She survived the attack but was critically injured.

On Sept. 13, 2000, 43-year-old Maui resident Daren Singer was killed at her beachfront campsite at Pakala.

The lawsuit said the Garden Island newspaper published an article that described the case and gave enough references to enable a person to conclude that Wilson was the attacker. The suit also said Honolulu Magazine published an article that said a television news report identifying Wilson as a suspect in the attacks was denounced by police, but "widely accepted as fact" on Kaua'i. The suit said the assertion that the report was "accepted as fact" was defamatory.

Police said they considered the possibility that a serial killer was involved, but despite extensive investigation, rewards and outside assistance, no one has been charged in the case. "It's a pending investigation, and we are following up on leads that have come to our attention," assistant Kaua'i police chief Gordon Isoda said yesterday.

Isoda, who was not in the detective bureau when the attacks occurred and is not named in the lawsuit, said there are still samples awaiting laboratory analysis on the Mainland, and police may call for new tests on genetic material.

Asked if police had narrowed the investigation down to a single suspect, he said: "I think we've got a few suspects."