Power struggle tied to Pali killings
| • | Pali shootings part of gaming culture |
By Peter Boylan and Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
The power struggle between two factions that provide security for O'ahu's illegal casinos that led to the Jan. 7 fatal shootings at the Pali Municipal Golf Course began in Pearl City early last year when police say a gambling operation was taken over by one of the groups.
Police said the strong-arm tactics touched off a series of events that culminated in the shooting deaths of Lepo Utu Taliese, who was shot several times in the chest and stomach, and Romilius Corpuz, who was shot in the head. Tinoimalu Sao, also shot in the head, was critically wounded.
On Tuesday, police arrested 33-year-old Kevin "Pancho" Gonsalves, who has been indicted by the O'ahu grand jury on murder and firearm charges. Rodney Joseph Jr. and Ethan Motta, two men also indicted on murder and weapons charges, were both arrested on the day of the shooting.
Capt. Carlton Nishimura said a power struggle between the two groups was already brewing before one of them decided to make a play and take over a game run out of a room in a four-story office complex on Kamehameha Highway in Pearl City.
After that incident, a brawl broke out between the two groups at a gaming house on Young Street on July 30.
Sao, the lone survivor of the Pali shootings, was beaten at the Young Street gaming house and testified in court last year that he sometimes works as a security guard at illegal gambling houses.
Acting on a tip, police found Gonsalves hiding under a bed in a Nanakuli house owned by the sister of one of his boyhood friends, police said.
During the search of the home after Gonsalves' arrest, police recovered a bullet proof vest and a .44 caliber revolver, both belonging to Gonsalves, police said. Gonsalves was not carrying the gun or the vest at the time of his arrest.
Police said the weapon was not connected to the three guns, a .22-caliber and two .38s, that were used in the Pali shooting.
Police have yet to recover any of the weapons used in the shooting.
Officers questioned the owner of the house, 37-year-old Melody Aguinaldo, her 41-year-old boyfriend, and her 16-year-old daughter at HPD's Kapolei substation before releasing them Tuesday afternoon.
Aguinaldo yesterday said when Gonsalves showed up unexpectedly at her one-story, tan home on Holopono Street Tuesday morning, it was the beginning of the most frightening few hours of her life.
"I was terrified," Aguinaldo said yesterday from beneath the large mango tree that shades the house. "Because the way he looked was, I didn't know what he was thinking. He was in a daze, just staring. It wasn't the Kevin that I really knew."
Aguinaldo, whose TV only picks up one station that doesn't carry the news, said she only knew Gonsalves was wanted for questioning, but not for suspicion of murder. She said Gonsalves, whom she had only known as a high school friend of her brother's, spoke little during the time he was in her home.
"But he did say he was afraid for his life, and that the cops and other people wanted to hurt him. He said he didn't trust anybody, and that's why he didn't let me out of his sight while he was here. I couldn't flee and I couldn't call the cops because I don't have a phone."
She said the incident ended after police officers swarmed through her house at around noon.
Aguinaldo said her boyfriend had been asleep in the bedroom and didn't realize Gonsalves was even in the house.
But Aguinaldo said she was relieved that, after being questioned at the Kapolei police station, authorities apparently believed her story and she and her boyfriend were released and told they wouldn't be charged with any crime.
Aguinaldo, who was baby-sitting three infants when the incident began, said her 16-year-old daughter was also inside the home when the fugitive arrived. She said it had been about a year since she had seen him.
Gonsalves, Joseph and Motta are all in custody in lieu of bail of $1 million each. Joseph and Motta have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Gonsalves' arraignment is scheduled for Monday.
