Man gets life in double murder

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island man who admitted to fatally shooting two Puna men in 2002 was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole yesterday.

John McGovern, 20, also was sentenced to 20 years in prison for using a firearm during the commission of another felony, and five years for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, said deputy prosecutor Jack Matsukawa.

Hilo Circuit Judge Terence Yoshioka ruled that the sentences will run consecutively, but denied a prosecution request for extended terms for the firearm and auto theft charges.

Matsukawa said his co-counsel, deputy prosecutor Sandra Freitas, argued for the extended terms in the hope that they would serve as an added deterrent in such cases.

McGovern admitted shooting Wesley Matheson, 19, and Cassidy Toole, 20, in the head on May 6, 2002, saying he had heard rumors that the pair had threatened him after a drug deal did not work out as planned.

Prosecutors disputed that explanation, portraying the case as a premeditated murder-robbery, with McGovern and accomplice Kyle Zengy Thurston Hill killing the two Puna men at their Fern Acres home to get marijuana and other drugs.

Hill testified that he shot Matheson in the head with a single-shot .22-caliber rifle that McGovern had borrowed. He then reloaded the rifle and gave it to McGovern, who shot Toole in the head. The men then switched targets, with Hill shooting Toole, and McGovern shooting Matheson.

Hill pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder last year in a plea agreement that required that he testify against McGovern.

Earlier this week, Hill was sentenced to two life terms with the possibility of parole.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.