On the night of the Tantalus shootings, police received a 911 call from a pair of tourists who drove by the lookout and told the operator "there is a man holding a gun and pointing it at three people," according to law enforcement officials.

The tourists, who have been interviewed by investigators, did not see the shots fired, said the officials, who did not want to be identified because of the ongoing criminal investigation.

No other witnesses were at the scene at the time of the shooting, according to the officials.

The phone call from the tourists and other details continue to emerge as the police investigation continues.

Manh Nguyen, a taxi driver, and Jason and Colleen Takamori, a couple who had set up a digital camera on a tripod to take pictures of the city lights, were all shot in the back of the head at close range on July 6. Manh Nguyen and Colleen Takamori died of single gunshot wounds, and Jason Takamori was shot twice in the back of the head.

Adam Mau-Goffredo has been charged in the killings. He is being held at O'ahu Community Correctional Center.

According to the officials, investigators recovered four spent shells and one live round from the scene. A ballistics test of the shells link them to a .45-caliber handgun found in a stolen Jaguar that Mau-Goffredo was driving at the time of his arrest, according to the sources.

Police also performed tests on gunshot residue found on Mau-Goffredo's hands. The material matches residue found on the murder weapon, which was stolen from the home of Mau-Goffredo's co-guardian, William Roy Carroll Jr., according to the sources.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle, who is handling the case, would not comment, citing an ongoing criminal prosecution. Mau-Goffredo's attorney, Brook Hart, did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.

Mau-Goffredo was arrested at a police checkpoint and immediately was taken to HPD's Alapai Street headquarters after a home-invasion robbery that followed the shooting. He did not give a statement to investigators, according to the officials.

WAIKIKI INCIDENT

Investigators also have spoken with a taxicab driver who said that two weeks before the triple shooting, a man matching the description of Mau-Goffredo got into a taxicab in Waikiki and asked the driver to do loops through the area, racking up a large fare before running out of the cab in front of a hotel, the law enforcement officials said.

The cabbie told investigators that during the ride, he felt uncomfortable and heard clicking and ripping sounds coming from the back seat, according to the officials.

After almost an hour, the passenger, who identified himself as a tourist, asked the cabbie to pull into the turnaround in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel because he had to pick up a bag, the sources said. The cabbie parked, and the passenger got out and ran.

According to the law enforcement sources, the cab ride could be key, indicating that the events at Tantalus on the night of the fatal shootings were not entirely random.

Police searched Carroll's house after the shootings and found writings in Mau-Goffredo's room discussing his belief that the FBI, CIA and federal government were watching him and planning to kill him. The night of the shooting, Mau-Goffredo was wearing a black hat with "CIA" stitched on the front in white letters.

Police also found notes in Mau-Goffredo's room speaking ill of President Bush.

In 2003, agents with the U.S. Secret Service interviewed Mau-Goffredo after he sent a briefcase full of "rambling letters" to the White House, according to Albert Joaquin, special agent in charge of the service's Honolulu division.

"We determined (at the time) he did not present a threat to the president and closed the investigation," Joaquin said.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.