Shooting victims named attackers
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
GONSALVES
JOSEPH
MOTTA
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Two of the three men gunned down at the Pali Golf Course on Wednesday were able to tell police who shot them, according to a police affidavit.
Police prepare to enter a house on Ho'okele and Hakeakea streets in Ma'ili to search for a suspect in the shooting at the Pali Golf Course Wednesday. Part of a street was sealed off, but the suspect was not found.
Lepo Utu Taliese, 44, was shot several times in the chest and waist and died at The Queen's Medical Center. Romilius Corpuz, 40, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at Castle Medical Center.
A third man, Tinoimalu Sao, 42, was shot in the head and remained in critical condition yesterday at Queen's.
Although critically wounded, Taliese and Sao managed to identify their assailants to police. Both said they had been shot by Rodney Joseph and Ethan Malu Motta, according to the affidavit filed Thursday in support of the arrests Wednesday.
Yesterday afternoon, Joseph, 35, and Motta, 34, each were charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, one count of second-degree attempted murder and numerous firearms charges. Bail for each man was set at $1 million.
Nixon Maumalanga, 30, also arrested Wednesday at the golf course, was not charged in connection with the shootings. But police said he was being held on unrelated warrants.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Joseph and Motta would face life in prison without the possibility of parole, while the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder is life with the possibility of parole.
Joseph turned himself in to police after he learned he was being sought in connection with the shootings. Motta was captured at the Honolulu International Airport as he waited to catch a flight to Hilo, Hawai'i, according to the affidavit.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Police yesterday also continued to search for at least one more suspect in Wednesday's shootings. Kevin A. Gonsalves, 33, was wanted for questioning and for three outstanding traffic warrants.
The search for a third suspect led police to a home in Ma'ili that was sealed off for more than an hour. A 77-year-old resident was at home but not harmed.
Gonsalves, also known as Pancho, has been seen in the Wai'anae area and should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Police sealed off a house in Ma'ili yesterday morning for more than an hour after they believed Gonsalves had barged in. A 77-year-old resident was at home, but was later let out by police unharmed.
Gonsalves was not found in the house on Hakeakea Street. Police also sealed off part of Ho'okele Street in Ma'ili while they searched for Gonsalves.
The midday shootings at the busy Pali Golf Course began in an upper parking lot, where two groups of men met after a funeral. An argument began, and as many as 10 shots were fired as the gunmen chased their targets.
Corpuz and Sao were found wounded in the clubhouse next to the pro shop, and Taliese collapsed near the first tee box.
Police said the shooting had connections to a July 30 brawl at a gambling house on Young Street between two groups that provide security for illegal game rooms. Sao was beaten and testified in court that he sometimes worked as a security guard at illegal gambling houses.
The men involved in Wednesday's shootings had come from the funeral of the father of a man stabbed in the Young Street brawl.
Advertiser staff writer Rod Ohira contributed to this report.
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
