Police Lt. Bill Kato said a 48-year-old farmer, originally from Laos, remains in police custody after his arrest yesterday on suspicion of second-degree murder for the shotgun slaying of Marcelino Pacheco Jr.

The farmer walked into the Wahiawa Police Station at about 1 p.m. and told police that he had killed a man with a shotgun.

The farmer's wife told police earlier in the day that she found the body in a pool of blood between 9:20 and 9:30 a.m., while walking to work on her family's farm lot, Kato said.

Kato said the farmer told police investigators he was driving toward a shack on his farm lot when he saw a man run from the storage shed holding a bag.

The farmer continued on to the shack, discovered some of his equipment missing and drove his van back down the road toward where he last saw the man, Kato said.

He found the bag laying in the road and found the equipment inside, Kato said.

At that point, Pacheco appeared, and "some sort of confrontation took place," Kato said.

"As to what was said or exactly who said what is not clear at this point," Kato said.

Moments later, Pacheco was shot.

Kato said police had not recovered the shotgun as of this morning.

In general, Hawai'i law allows someone to use deadly force when protecting their property, Kato said. But it does not permit the shooting of a suspect who is attempting to flee without any of the stolen goods in hand, Kato said.

"If the guy comes at you, that's a different story," Kato said.

Yesterday's shooting took place on a road leading to various farm lots and not on the farmer's lot, Kato said.

And while the farmer is originally from Laos, he is a college graduate and is not having difficulty communicating with investigators, Kato said.

Court records show that Pacheco had 21 prior arrests and an ice problem when he was indicted for car theft, and later for burglary, in 2001.

Bail for Pacheco, then 35, was set at $50,000 for the two felony charges, but he was later placed on supervised release under the sponsorship of his father, who was then 92.

The records show that Pacheco had worked as a welder, but had been unemployed for at least four years, when he was arrested in 2001.

After he was sent to the O'ahu Community Correctional Center to await trial on the car theft charge, Pacheco admitted being addicted to crystal methamphetamine and asked to take part in the state's Drug Court program, court records show.

He graduated from the program in April 2003 and as a result, the burglary and auto theft charges against him were dismissed the following month.

Kato said yesterday that investigators believe both of Pacheco's parents are dead.