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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:40 p.m., Wednesday, October 29, 2008

MORE PRISON TIME FOR PIG KILLER
Pig killer sentenced to 5-year term

By David Dondoneau
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Joseph B. Calarruda V makes a statement in Circuit Court today in the sentencing phase of his felony theft of livestock trial in the killing of "Porky," the pet pig of a Mililani family. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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A 30-year-old Makaha man already serving a 10-year prison term for a firearms felony was given a consecutive sentence this morning of five more years in prison for brutally killing a family pig in the garage of a lychee farm in Mililani two years ago.

Joseph V. Calarruda V received the maximum sentence this morning in Circuit Court, less than a minute after Judge Richard Pollack listened to Calarruda and several of Calarruda's family members plea for leniency on his behalf.

Pollack ordered Calarruda to serve a minimum of a one year, eight months for killing "Porky" on Oct. 22, 2006, while Calarruda was already on parole for carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and a loaded ammunition magazine to his workplace.

He was free on $40,000 bail on the firearm charge when the pig incident occurred.

He received the maximum 10-year prison sentence for the firearms charge.

Immediately following today's sentencing Calarruda requested a new defense lawyer for his appeal.

Shawn Luiz, Calarruda's court-appointed attorney, said a hearing will be held to determine if Calarruda receives new representation.

"He maintains he didn't do it," Luiz said.

According to documents filed at Circuit Court, the pig's owners, witnesses heard the 300-pound animal squealing and saw two dogs and Calarruda chasing it into a garage on the farm property. The pig stopped squealing, and the neighbors saw Calarruda dragging the pig's bloody body out of the garage.

Luiz says Calarruda maintains his innocence and Calarruda's friend had confessed in court to killing the pig.

Deputy prosecutor Scott Bell, calling the case the most unusual he's ever prosecuted, said the judge listened to three eyewitness accounts instead of a false confession when deciding the case.

"The judge took into account the defendant's history," Bell said. "He was on bail when he committed the crime. In 2000, he was convicted of kidnapping his then-girlfriend and abuse of a household member. He had to be receive a consecutive sentence."

According to court documents, Calarruda was confronted by a neighbor and the resident manager after the neighbor saw him cut into one of the pig's legs with a knife. Calarruda and another man fled the farm after the neighbor pointed out the no-trespassing signs and told them the pig was a farm pet.

For more on this story, see tomorrow's edition of The Advertiser.