Murder suspect not 'Mirandized' before alleged confession

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A Coast Guard officer who was among the first to board a Taiwan-based fishing boat last year said in federal court yesterday that one of the crew members confessed to him that he had killed the boat's captain and first mate.

Lt. j.g. Hsing Yen "John" Fu said he boarded the Full Means 2 in waters south of the Big Island on March 19, 2002 to find that the boat's cook was being held in a windowless storage compartment with a steel bar welded across the door.

The Coast Guard officer said that when he asked the cook, Shi Lei, through a hole in the door why he was locked up, the cook told him that he had killed two people.

But Fu said he did not "Mirandize," or inform, the cook that he had a constitutional right not to answer questions, and that he could have an attorney present while being questioned.

In response to questions from Lei's lawyer, federal Deputy Public Defender Pamela Byrne, Fu said it was probably a mistake not to have explained Lei's rights to him before he began asking questions. Lei was later charged with murder in connection with the stabbing deaths of the two men.

But in response to questions from Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Brady, who is prosecuting the case, Fu said he didn't feel he was making a mistake when he first talked to Lei or when he had subsequent conversations with him.

Byrne is arguing that Lei, 21, was never informed of his rights before questions were asked of him and that his statements and any of the evidence that was collected as a result should be barred from use at his trial.

Fu said he was ordered to join the boarding party because of his ability to speak Mandarin. He said he lived with his family on Taiwan until they moved to the United States when he was 7 years old. Fu said he has had no formal training in Mandarin and had trouble at first communicating with Lei because Lei may have been using slang terms.

Fu said he asked Lei questions to corroborate what the rest of the crew members aboard the fishing boat were saying. There were concerns by the Coast Guard that the fishing boat crew was using a ruse in hopes the boat would be diverted to U.S. waters and that crew members might jump ship and swim to shore when it got close to land.

Fu said he was concerned about the safety of the Coast Guard crew, the fishing boat crew and Lei. He said he did not place Lei under arrest but that FBI agents did when they boarded the boat on March 21.

The hearing before federal Judge Helen Gillmor will continue later this week.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.