Posted on: Friday, September 10, 2004

Farmer charged in shotgun slaying

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A Kahuku farmer was charged yesterday with second-degree murder in connection with the shotgun slaying of a 38-year-old man whose body was found Tuesday morning on Malaekahana Valley Road.

The farmer, Khamxath Baccam, 48, is scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 this morning in District Court.

Police said Baccam told officers in Wahiawa that he shot a man, later identified as Marcelino Pacheco, because he believed Pacheco had been stealing equipment and produce from Baccam's farm.

According to a police homicide investigator's statement filed in court, Baccam walked into the Wahiawa Police Station and told officers "that he had shot and killed someone on this farm (Monday) night and that he felt bothered by it all night long."

Baccam, who lives a block from the Wahiawa Police Station, also told police that he threw the shotgun away after the incident, according to the investigator's statement.

Police had not found the gun as of 1 p.m. yesterday. Baccam's bail was set at $25,000.