Suspect in Kailua fire and stabbings gives up
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
KAILUA — A 20-year-old Kailua man turned himself in to police yesterday as a suspect in Monday's house fire that left his mother and an aunt with stab wounds and serious burns.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Police arrested Micah K. White at a scenic overlook along Pali Highway, near the tunnel portals on the Kailua side. He had called police to arrange his arrest and was picked up at about 2:30 p.m., said homicide Lt. David Kamai.
Micah White, 20, has been booked on counts of attempted murder as well as criminal property damage.
White was booked at the Kane'ohe police station on two counts of attempted murder and one count of criminal property damage; he was not immediately charged. He was taken to Castle Medical Center for observation yesterday afternoon and was transferred to the downtown police cellblock last night.
Meanwhile, police yesterday recovered a 30-inch sword in the rubble of the house at 1214 Kainui Drive. Kamai would not comment on the whether the sword was used to attack the women.
The two women remained hospitalized in critical condition yesterday, suffering from burns and puncture wounds, Kamai said. The two were attacked at the Kainui Drive home Monday and then escaped from the burning house.
The women were identified as Kerry White, 48, and her 58-year-old sister-in-law, a North Shore resident who was visiting on Monday. Kerry White is the mother of Micah White.
Kamai would not say what led to the incident but did say that witnesses saw Micah White leaving the home shortly before the fire was reported. Kamai said he believed that White recently became unemployed.
The blaze destroyed the home, which the White family had rented since 1999. An adjacent home suffered major damage that displaced a family of three.
Police closed a portion of Kainui Drive until about 12:40 p.m. yesterday to allow fire and Department of Health crews to remove swimming-pool chemicals from the home.
"There was a considerable amount of pool chemicals, and they were kind of reacting with each other," said Capt. Kenison Tejada, spokesman for the Fire Department.
The cause of the fire, which did about $310,000 in damage to the White home, was still under investigation yesterday, Tejada said. Damage to the neighboring home was estimated at $60,000.
As fire and police investigators searched the White home for clues yesterday, a steady flow of curious people drove, walked and jogged by the burned-out shell of the one-story home.
Neighbor Dorothy Myrdal, whose home escaped damage, said she was surprised that such a violent act would happen next door. Myrdal has lived in her house for 33 years.
"They were good neighbors. They were considerate neighbors. They were very quiet and very private people," Myrdal said.
She said Kerry White loved animals and enjoyed gardening. Myrdal also said she had little contact with Micah White.
"One son was a little more personable. The other one, who's accused, was quieter," Myrdal said. "He'd say 'hi' if I'd say 'hi' but that was the extent of it. He liked to fix cars in the side yard."
Myrdal said she didn't hear anything Monday afternoon leading up to the fire.
She said, "The first thing I realized was when a van pulled up and stopped fast and a guy got out and he ran back here and he yelled, 'Roll, roll!' I ran out here, looked around the hedge and saw Kerry on fire."
Micah White has a pending criminal case against him. He was arrested Feb. 19 and charged with first-degree criminally trespassing at the University of Hawai'iiManoa campus and with resisting arrest, according to court records.
He pleaded not guilty to the two misdemeanor charges in District Court and, because he asked for a jury trial, his case was turned over to Circuit Court, the documents said.
White pleaded not guilty to the two charges at his March 25 arraignment in Circuit Court, at which time the prosecutor's office decided to drop the resisting-arrest case, according to the documents.
His trial on the trespassing charge is scheduled to begin the week of May 10.
Advertiser staff writers Mike Gordon and David Waite and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
