Posted on: Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Former Isle man won't face death penalty
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
Former Hawai'i resident Eddie Rapoza, charged with murdering his wife and two daughters, will not face the death penalty in California.
Rapoza, of Foster City, Calif., is accused of driving a 2002 Dodge Caravan over a 150-foot sea cliff near Moss Beach on Oct. 6, 2002, killing his wife, Raye Rapoza, 34, their 4-year-old daughter, Tehani, and the nearly 8-month-old female fetus Raye was carrying.
Rapoza has said it was an accident and that his foot got stuck between the accelerator and the brake pedal. He said police elicited a confession from him while he was in the hospital, seriously injured and incoherent from painkillers and other medication.
Prosecutors say Rapoza had a history of abusing his wife and purposely crashed the minivan in an apparent murder-suicide attempt.
Raye Rapoza's sister, Robin Pang of Belmont, Calif., said she accepts the district attorney's decision. "Nothing brings her or Tehani back. The main thing is we want to make sure there's a fair trial and that justice is served," she said yesterday.
The Rapozas were high school sweethearts from Wai'anae. Raye Rapoza was a 1986 Kamehameha Schools graduate and her husband attended Wai'anae High School. They moved to Maui in 1990, leaving for California in 1996. While on Maui, Raye Rapoza obtained a restraining order against her husband, saying he was abusive and had threatened to drive them both off a cliff.
San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Al Giannini said yesterday his office determined the death pen-alty would not be appropriate, and that Ra-poza, 37, should be subject to a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
Eddie Rapoza
