LIHU’E — A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in District Court Thursday for Gregory Aguiar, 49, of ‘Ele’ele, who has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly pouring a flammable liquid on his wife on Sunday and setting her on
LIHU’E — A preliminary hearing has been scheduled in District Court Thursday
for Gregory Aguiar, 49, of ‘Ele’ele, who has been charged with attempted murder
for allegedly pouring a flammable liquid on his wife on Sunday and setting her
on fire.
During an arraignment for Aguiar, District Court Judge Clifford
Nakea set the preliminary hearing for 9:30 a.m.
In addition to the
attempted murder charge, Aguiar has been charged with reckless endangering in
the first degree.
The victim, Muilan Aguiar, 40, of Ele’ele, suffered
third-degree burns over 85 percent of her body and was in critical condition at
Straub Clinic and Hospital on O’ahu.
She was initially treated at Kaua’i
Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waimea for her injuries and was medivaced by
aircraft to the O’ahu hospital.
Shay Bintliff, medical director for the
emergency department at Kaua’i Veterans Hospital, said a quick response by her
staff helped increased Mrs. Aguiar’s chances for survival.
“This is really
exception,” Bintliff said, “because they had to work under exceptionally
difficult conditions. It went like clockwork.”
Aguiar survived the attack,
reported about 11 a.m, after she ran from her home on Pualei Street to a
neighbor’s home and hosed herself down. Neighbors helped extinguished the
blaze.
Yesterday, Aguiar, who wore an orange prison jump suit and
sandals, seldom looked up during the court proceeding.
Aguiar reportedly
drove off in a vehicle after his wife’s clothes caught on fire. He
surrendered to police in the Numila area after 1 p.m.
Aguiar failed to
post $100,000 bail and has been confined at the Kaua’i Community Correctional
Center in Wailua.
Aguiar, a Kauai Coffee employee, has qualified for legal
services from the state Public Defender’s Office.
But the state agency
bowed out of the case because of a conflict of interest, said Deputy Public
Defender Ed Acoba. Replacing him was Kaua’i attorney Peter Kea.
In other
court action:
*Noel Dacucuy, 24, of Puhi pleaded not guilty to 52 counts of
sexual assault in the third degree.
The charges stem from his alleged
assault of two juvenile girls at a home in East Kaua’i from August 1993 to June
1999.
A trial has been set for June 19.
Dacucuy was confined to Kaua’i
Community Correctional Center after he failed to post $100,000
bail.
*Circuit Judge George Masuoka sentenced Juliet Arzadon of Kapa’a to
60 days in jail and 5 years probation for receiving an overpayment of
$29,256.40 in cash and benefits from the state Department of Human Services
from 1996 to 1999.
Masuoka also required Arzadon to continue to pay
restitution to the state agency, to perform 400 hours of community service and
to comply with other conditions.
Arzadon lived with two children at their
home in Kapa’a, and didn’t identify her boyfriend, the father of the children,
when she received the DHS payments, according to Deputy Prosecuting Attorney
Craig DeCosta.
Masuoka said Arzadon was already receiving benefits and
improperly took advantage of the system by accepting the additional
benefits.
Arzadon was represented by Deputy Public Defender Ed Acoba, who
said his client was a good worker and made a wrong decision in accepting the
extra funds.
