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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Police await autopsy following Waikiki beer robbery death


Advertiser Staff

An autopsy was scheduled today to determine how a man died following an altercation during an attempted robbery last night at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki hotel.

The dead man has been identified as Humberto Murillo, 33, of San Fernando, Calif. He was a guest at the hotel.
The incident took place about 9 last night.
Honolulu police homicide Lt. William Kato said witnesses told police the manager of the ABC Store in the hotel approached a man who was carrying a 12-pack of beer out of the store.
Witnesses said when the manager began to question the man about paying for the beer, the man swung the cold pack, hitting the manager, and then began to pummel him. Kato said the crime was elevated from theft to robbery when the manager was struck.
Witnesses said two men jumped on the back of the man who allegedly stole the beer in an effort to take him down to the ground, Kato said.
He said witness accounts vary as to what happened when hotel security guards arrived at the scene, with one group saying the man who was tackled was talking and responsive after the incident and another group saying the man did not move after the two men got off him.
Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city's Emergency Services Department, said paramedics were called to the hotel at 2424 Kalakaua Ave. about 8:50 p.m.
They took the man to a nearby hospital in critical condition and he was pronounced dead a short time later