The federal trial of Ethan Motta and Rodney Joseph Jr. on charges of murdering underworld rivals in a blaze of gunfire at the Pali Golf Course parking lot five years ago was delayed again yesterday after the government made a startling revelation about an undercover informant's involvement in the case.

The trial now will not start until at least Tuesday because of the government's belated disclosure that the informant secretly tape-recorded an October 2004 discussion with Motta in which the defendant allegedly made "admissions" about the Pali case.

Assistant U.S. attorney Thomas Brady said the recording was recently discovered in FBI files and now might be used by the government in the trial.

The informant, identified late yesterday in court papers, was Joseph's cousin Jonnaven Monalim, a Leeward O'ahu businessman and convicted felon whose business ties to state Sheriff John F. Souza III were profiled by The Advertiser in 2004. Souza, who is now married to state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, said at the time that his real estate dealings with Monalim were innocent and aboveboard but he acknowledged that "the appearance is bad."

In March 2004, FBI agents and HPD officers raided real estate belonging to Monalim in what Monalim's lawyer, William Harrison, said was a continuing investigation of his client.

No charges were filed against Monalim as a result of those raids and yesterday he was publicly identified by federal authorities as an FBI informant.

Harrison declined comment last night. Monalim could not be reached for comment.

According to documents filed in federal court this week, Monalim wore an FBI "body wire" and secretly recorded a three-hour conversation with Motta and others at an October 2004 benefit held on the Big Island to raise legal defense funds for Motta. At the time, Motta was free on $1 million bail and Monalim was on parole for a 1998 felony assault conviction.

Monalim was also convicted in 1994 with Joseph — his cousin and Motta's co-defendant in the Pali case — on burglary and terroristic threatening charges after they invaded a Wai'anae home and threatened the occupants with a shotgun.

Prosecutor Brady yesterday apologized to defense lawyers and to District Judge Susan Oki Mollway for the last-minute revelation of the existence of the tape recording, saying it had been tucked away in case files for years and was only discovered recently by the FBI.

Motta attorney Charles Carnesi questioned the legality of the surreptitious recording, saying law enforcement contact with Motta should not have occurred without the knowledge and approval of his defense lawyer.

Brady said the discussion with Motta was only supposed to have involved suspected Motta criminal activities unrelated to the Pali case, but he acknowledged that there may have been "admissions" made by Motta about the murders and also about matters covered by the attorney-client privilege.

Carnesi filed a motion yesterday afternoon to suppress the statement, saying that Monalim and Motta "discussed at length and in detail the facts and circumstances of the (Pali) homicides."

U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway put the trial on hold until Tuesday and scheduled a hearing on the tape-recording issue for 9 a.m. today.