Posted on: Thursday, January 20, 2005
Slaying detailed in confession
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Police say Richard S. Costa has given them a detailed confession to the killing of Weslyn Jerves, but as he left a District Court arraignment yesterday he told reporters, "I'm innocent."
A tall, slim man with a moustache and goatee, Costa, 36, of Kalaheo, made no statements during yesterday's arraignment. He will be represented by court-appointed attorney Bill Feldhacker, a former Kaua'i prosecutor who also is a veteran criminal defense lawyer. A preliminary hearing is set for tomorrow.
Tourists visiting an old graveyard near the Port Allen bay known as Glass Beach found Jerves' body about 7 a.m. Jan. 13.
Jan TenBruggencate • The Honolulu Advertiser According to the police:
Costa told investigators that he knew Jerves. He had given her a ride between Hanama'ulu and Nawiliwili earlier in the day. On the evening of Jan. 12, he said he saw Jerves walking along the road in Hanama'ulu. She flagged him down and asked to go "cruising" with him. Costa said Jerves fell asleep, and he drove the roughly 20 miles to Glass Beach.
He said he woke her about 2 a.m. and asked for $20 he had lent her a week earlier. When she refused to give him the money, he ordered her out of the car and said she could find her own way home. She refused to get out.
He said he went to the passenger side of the gray, 1989 Toyota sedan to pull her out, and saw that she had a knife. Costa, a former Marine, said his military training came into play as he grappled for the weapon.
Costa's confession, outlined by Detective Sam Sheldon, indicated that he initially stabbed her in the back during the struggle.
Sheldon said Costa said he grew angry after realizing that the altercation could send him to jail. He said her neck was cut as she twisted to get out of his headlock.
An autopsy indicated that her body had other wounds to the chest, right arm and abdomen. A police officer also described a "defensive" wound to the hand.
The autopsy said she bled to death.
Costa told police he may have accidentally driven over her body, although he initially thought he'd driven over a mound of dirt. He said he threw the knife toward the water before leaving the area, washed blood off his hands when he got home and washed the car the next morning.
He is being held on $100,000 bail.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
Costa is charged with second-degree murder. In a confession filed with the court, he said he repeatedly stabbed the 18-year-old Hanama'ulu woman and then, as she bled to death, cut off her underwear and slashed the strap on her blouse, police said. He said he did not sexually assault her.
Richard Costa
Detectives said they interviewed several people before getting a confession from Costa, apparently on Sunday. The confession is outlined in court documents required when police detain a prisoner more than 48 hours without bringing him to court.
Richard S. Costa, in blue shirt with back to camera, is loaded into a sheriff's van.
