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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Man charged in Chinatown slaying

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writers

A 21-year-old man was charged last night in connection with the fatal shooting of a man in Chinatown early Saturday morning.

Iosefa M. Pasene was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree terroristic threatening, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and a second firearms violation.

Pasene's bail was set at $1 million and he is scheduled to make his initial court appearance this morning.

Police last night also arrested a second man and booked him for investigation of second-degree murder.

Pasene is accused of being one of two gunmen who fired multiple shots at Joseph Peneueta at about 4:10 a.m. Saturday near the corner of River and Pauahi streets. The city medical examiner said Peneueta, 35, died of "multiple internal injuries due to shotgun and gunshot wounds."

Witnesses told police that Peneueta was shot by one man with a shotgun and another with an assault-type weapon. The men fired at Peneueta before and after he fell to the ground, according to a police affidavit filed in support of Pasene's arrest.

Police recovered 14 .223-caliber shell casings and four shotgun shells from the scene, the affidavit said. Several witnesses identified Pasene as the man with the assault rifle, according to the affidavit.

The court document did not provide a motive for the killing.

Pasene was arrested at about 3:45 p.m. Monday after he got out of a car near the Pearl Manor apartments on Lipoa Place in 'Aiea. An investigation by police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration led them to the area near the Pearl Kai Shopping Center, where Pasene was seen riding in a gold Nissan Maxima, the affidavit said.

Officers followed the vehicle until it came to a stop at a dead-end on Lipoa Place. Two men got out of the car and began to walk in the direction of a plainclothes officer, who identified himself and arrested Pasene without incident.

Pasene initially was arrested by DEA agents on a federal warrant, but was turned over to Honolulu police shortly after 6 p.m. Monday.

Pasene has no local address and may be from the San Francisco area, police said. Before the murder charge, he was charged Monday with two counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, while a co-defendant, Antonius Toloai, also was charged with the drug offense.

Bail for both men was set at $11,000.

Police also were looking for a third man in connection with the shooting.

The family of the victim said yesterday that the shooting came several hours after a confrontation Peneueta and some friends had at a nightclub with several other men. It was unclear if the confrontation and the shooting are related. Peneueta's family did not have information on where the confrontation took place or why.

Also yesterday, Peneueta's family members defended him, saying he did not use drugs and was not part of a gang. Peneueta had a wife and infant son.

"(Joseph) was a really good, kind, caring person," said Barbara O'Meara, Peneueta's mother-in-law, who lives in Alaska. "He had a tough life, but he wasn't just some guy off the street selling drugs."

Court records show that Peneueta has a record of drug offenses and an assault conviction. He was convicted of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and possession of drug paraphernalia in March 1998 and was sentenced to five years in prison.

According to records filed in that case, Peneueta was arrested by police at 43 N. Hotel St. in Chinatown on an outstanding warrant and had crack cocaine and a pipe hidden inside a bandage on his hand.

Court records show he was paroled in 2002.

Advertiser Staff writer Jim Dooley contributed to this report.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.