Woman gets life term for stabbing care-home owner
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
A 57-year-old woman who stabbed Waipahu care-home operator Agapita Alcaraz to death did not say a word yesterday when she was sentenced to life in prison for the September 2001 slaying.
Advertiser library photo • March 27, 2003
Emily Rauschenburg called 911 and told operators she had just stabbed Alcaraz, 64. When police arrived at the care home on Kahualena Street, Rauschenburg told them she was unhappy with the food she was receiving at the care home.
Emily Rauschenburg faced murder charges in a 1984 death, but was acquitted by reason of insanity.
Rauschenburg, who has a history of mental illness and drug abuse, was acquitted by reason of insanity when she faced charges of murder and attempted murder related to setting fire to a Makiki boarding house that killed a man in 1984.
She was committed to the state hospital in Kane'ohe and later granted a conditional release. But no one told Alcaraz about Rauschenburg's background when she moved into the Waipahu care home in March 2001.
The case prompted legislators last year to pass Act 166, requiring the state Department of Health to disclose to adult residential care-home operators the criminal history of prospective residents if it includes conviction for violent crimes or acquittal by reason of insanity of a violent crime.
A panel of three mental health experts examined Rauschenburg after the Alcaraz stabbing and concluded she could control herself and appreciate the wrongfulness of her acts.
Alcaraz's daughter, son and son-in-law yesterday urged Circuit Judge Derrick Chan to sentence Rauschenburg to the maximum term.
"Emily Rauschenburg shattered our lives when she took the life of Agapita Alcaraz," daughter Beverly Del Rosario told the judge. "She should never have the right to live in our society ever again."
