Beating death attributed to self-defense
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
A 57-year-old O'ahu man accused of beating a homeless man to death with a baseball bat in October 2000 at Ke'ehi Lagoon Park was acting in self-defense and doesn't recall very much about the incident, his lawyer told a Circuit Court jury yesterday.
Todd Eddins, a state deputy public defender, said in his opening statement that Sapatumoeese Maluia feared that Feao Tupuola Jr., 48, was reaching into a knapsack for a gun or a knife when he began to strike Tupuola with a wooden baseball bat.
Eddins told the jury in Circuit Judge Richard Perkins courtroom that Maluia's "survival mechanism kicked in" after it appeared that Tupuola might try to take the bat away from him.
"He couldn't help himself, he couldn't turn himself off, he just lost it," Eddins said.
Maluia went on trial on a charge of second-degree murder. According to court and parole records, Maluia was arrested in March 1973 for the shotgun slayings of his girlfriend and her grandmother.
He was convicted in January 1974, sentenced to 99 years and released on parole in 1988. He later was returned to prison on a parole violation, paroled again and granted early termination of parole in November 1998.
During yesterday's opening statements, Christopher Van Marter, a city deputy prosecutor, described Tupuola as a destitute homeless man who lived in the streets and at Keehi Lagoon Park who was "quite literally beaten to death with a baseball bat" by Maluia.
Van Marter said the attack was unprovoked and that Tupuola was unarmed. He said that Maluia had been drinking throughout the afternoon and into the evening prior to attacking Tupuola at about 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 12, 2000.
Moments before the beating started Maluia was sitting in the passenger seat of his 2000 Cougar and Tupuola had gotten into the driver's seat, Van Marter said. He said a witness who was at the park with his wife and two infant children will testify that Tupuola "came flying out of the driver's side" of Maluia's car and that Maluia got out of the passenger's side, took the bat from the back seat and walked toward Tupuola.
After Tupuola tripped over a concrete curb and fell backwards, Maluia went into "full attack mode" and beat Tupuola for five to 10 minutes, Van Marter said. He said the witness will testify that Maluia swung the bat with all of his might, as if he were "trying to hit a home run."
Van Marter said Maluia went to a water fountain to wash the bat handle, which had become slippery with blood, then resumed the attack. He said Maluia washed the bat a second time and "starts cranking (Tupuola) again." He hit the lifeless Tupuola so hard, the bat split into two pieces, Van Marter said.
When police arrived at the park, they discovered Maluia nude, near the park bathrooms, where he had gone to try to wash off the blood, Van Marter said.
The trial is expected to last about a week and a half.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.
