When her mother-in-law was found dead in a ditch 14 years ago in Kapa‘a, Bonnie Calkins knew it would take time for answers, but she hoped the circumstances surrounding the murder would surface, so her family could heal. That day
When her mother-in-law was found dead in a ditch 14 years ago in Kapa‘a, Bonnie Calkins knew it would take time for answers, but she hoped the circumstances surrounding the murder would surface, so her family could heal.
That day has yet to come.
Since Joyce Marie-Lester Fox’s death, there have been 25 murders that have occurred in Kaua‘i, of which six remain unsolved, according to the Kaua‘i Police Department. That leaves at least half a dozen families suffering with the same thought Calkins does: Whomever committed the murder is out there, getting away with it.
Fox was 43 years old when she was found strangled by her own belt in a ditch along the road in Kapa‘a in July 1992, Calkins said. Her family is still awaiting answers about what happened. To this day there has not been an arrest.
Calkins, who still writes letters to KPD, is growing tired, she said.
Several family members have since moved or passed away, Calkins said, but that doesn’t mean the family has stopped seeking closure.
“We’re just wondering ‘Why?’” Calkins said.
Calkins said she and her family knows who killed her mother-in-law, but the 33-year-old man, Fox’s ex-boyfriend, who was arrested and released pending charges on July 27, 1992, left for the Mainland after Hurricane Iniki, never to return.
“There were cigarette butts around her body — the same brand he smoked. … I think the evidence is now gone and they just keep saying everything is ‘inconclusive’ and that should be the end of it,” Calkins said.
There is no statute of limitations for murder, Kaleo Perez, acting lieutenant for KPD, said in an e-mail. “Unsolved murder cases are never closed. The unsolved murder cases can be looked at when new information or new leads come up, even years later.”
It is KPD’s policy to withhold the name of any person of interest who has not been charged, even if the person was initially arrested.
There is a cold case squad that handles such cases through the State Attorney General’s Office in Honolulu, Perez said.
But that’s not comforting to former Kaua‘i resident Mary Jouppi, who has been through some of the same frustration Calkins’ family has.
Jouppi moved to the Mainland before her longtime companion, Fig Mitchell, was found murdered in his Kapa‘a home June 10, 2002. He was supposed to join her, she said, but he never got the chance.
Not a day goes by that she doesn’t think about him, she said.
Mitchell’s autopsy revealed he died from blunt force injuries to the head. Jouppi said several people were always in and out of Mitchell’s home.
“Nobody ever did anything about it,” Jouppi said. “I wrote letters, the name of every contact he had, names and addresses of beach contacts who lived on the island. But nobody cares.”
Lawrence Mendonca, whose daughter was murdered in January, believes KPD is doing all they can do to find the killer. To help tip the scales, however, he has just raised the reward amount for the third time since she died in order to unearth more possible leads, he said.
The Mendoncas are offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who has information that could lead to the arrest of the person who strangled 27-year-old Sandra Galas in her car in ‘Ele‘ele on Jan. 25.
“I maintain (KPD) is dedicated,” Mendonca said. “But I’d like to see an arrest.”
Mendonca was told “from the beginning” that this would be a long process, he added. “They told me it could be up to five years,” he said.
Within the past 14 years, the year 2000 had the highest number of unsolved murders in Kaua‘i — 2.
The first was Lisa Bissell, 39, who, like Fox, was found stabbed and left in a ditch.
The second unsolved murder that year was of Daren Singer, a 43-year-old woman who was found in Waimea strangled, stabbed and possibly raped.
According to the most recent statewide statistics from the Hawai‘i Attorney General’s Office, Kaua‘i County’s violent crime rate in 2004 was the highest in the state of Hawai‘i. The violent crime rate rose 9.8 percent that year.
Thirty-three murders were reported statewide in 2004, up from 22 in 2003, according to that report. Women made up 24.2 percent of the murder victims that year statewide.
• Amanda C. Gregg, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or agregg@kauaipubco.com.
