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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 12, 2010

Parole board sets 125-year minimum for former Isle woman


By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Maryann Bray, shown at her trial in August 2009, will have to spend 125 years in prison before being considered for parole.

RICHARD AMBO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Convicted killer Maryann Bray’s long pursuit of a new trial backfired badly after she was re-convicted last year of a 1978 homicide and yesterday was ordered to spend 125 years in prison before being considered for parole.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority set Bray’s minimum term after a hearing at the Women’s Community Correctional Facility, prosecutors said.
Bray, who was convicted here under her married name Maryann Acker, sought the new Hawaii trial in part to improve her chances for parole from California prison where she has been imprisoned for a second 1978 homicide.
Now, even if she is granted a California parole, Bray will be returned here to spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Bray claimed in testimony last year that her ex-husband, William Acker, was responsible for the slaying here of Lawrence Hasker and of Cesario Arauza in California.
William Acker testified that she was killer, using the same .38 caliber handgun to commit both homicides.
William Acker was only convicted of robbery her after he agreed to testify against Bray in the first trial, held in 1982, and last year.
The Ackers came here from Arizona in the summer of 1978 and planned to support themselves by robbing tourists and drug dealers, Deputy Prosecutor Landon Murata told jurors in the retrial.
They first kidnapped and robbed one victim, then did the same nine days later to Hasker, taking him first to the apartment where they were staying, then to Hanauma Bay, Murata said.
Bray killed Hasker by firing three gunshots into his head, Murata said.