LIHU‘E — A bold murder last month has shocked the island community. Many have been quick to link the victim to illegal drugs, but his father and a long-time friend from the Mainland say that’s not fair. Kapa‘a resident Aureo
LIHU‘E — A bold murder last month has shocked the island community. Many have been quick to link the victim to illegal drugs, but his father and a long-time friend from the Mainland say that’s not fair.
Kapa‘a resident Aureo Moore, 34, was shot from behind at close range several times on Dec. 17 in the middle of a public road in broad daylight near Anahola Beach Park.
Many have suspected that Moore’s murder was related to a drug deal gone bad. Less than four months before being murdered, Moore was robbed of $900 in cash and 200 prescription pills in the parking lot of Safeway supermarket in Waipouli.
A friend of Moore who knew him for more than 25 years said Moore was not a “full drug addict.”
“That wasn’t him,” he said. “He wasn’t one of those guys,” said Geoff Stepien, who grew up on same street that Moore did, in Laguna Beach, Calif.
While saying his son did become hooked on pain pills and sold some controlled substances from time to time, Moore’s father has refuted allegations that his son was a drug dealer.
Aureo Moore suffered a serious construction-related accident in 2006 that left him with severe back pains and unable to find steady work, according to his father, Robert Moore. To live with less pain, Aureo Moore had to take massive doses of oxycodone and morphine and ended up becoming addicted.
Living on a limited income, Aureo Moore would sell a few pills from his prescription to get by — until he got caught by the police.
Attempts from Aureo Moore’s family and doctor were not enough to pull him away from the oxycodone, said Robert Moore, adding that his son’s doctor was prescribing 160 pills of oxycodone and 50 pills of morphine each month.
Aureo Moore’s doctor refused to comment, citing privacy laws.
Aureo Moore lived on Kaua‘i since he was toddler, but moved to California as a young boy, and lived there for about five years, according to his father. That’s when he met Stepien.
Stepien said he and Aureo Moore eventually took different paths in life. After Aureo Moore moved back to Kaua‘i, he and Stepien did not see each other for many years.
“Everybody called him ‘Cookie.’ He was the smallest kid in the bunch, and he used to love his sugar,” Stepien said. “That was his nickname.”
A couple years ago Stepien moved to Kaua‘i. He lived here for a little while before returning to California.
Stepien and his girlfriend settled in Kapahi, three of four miles away from Aureo Moore, and they eventually ran into each other again.
On Kaua‘i, Stepien and Aureo Moore would occasionally go surfing, and even worked together at a job site in Po‘ipu cleaning windows, something that Aureo Moore was very good at, Stepien said.
But Aureo Moore, Stepien said, “was not looking too good.” Stepien learned from Aureo Moore of his accident, and heard from others that he was hooked on prescription pills.
Stepien said because he had a job and a girlfriend, he didn’t hang out as much with Aureo Moore, who was “doing his pill poppers.”
Despite Aureo Moore’s run with prescription pills, Stepien said he was a good guy.
“He was a low-key guy who talked really slow when he spoke with people. He was an easy-going guy,” said Stepien.
He added that he was shocked when he heard what happened to Aureo Moore, how somebody “threw him under the bus.”
When Aureo Moore was robbed in August at Safeway parking lot, he had just cashed an insurance refund check and refilled his painkiller prescription at Longs Drugs, said Robert Moore, explaining why his son had so much cash and so many pills on his possession.
Aureo Moore had testified once against the suspect and was supposed to testify again a few days after he was murdered. Because Aureo Moore was a witness to a crime, his alleged killer could face life in prison, according to law enforcement officials.
According to Hawai‘i state law, a person commits the offense of murder in the first-degree if the person intentionally or knowingly causes the death of:
∫ More than one person in the same or separate incident;
∫ A law enforcement officer, judge, or prosecutor arising out of the performance of official duties;
∫ A person known by the defendant to be a witness in a criminal prosecution and the killing is related to the person’s status as a witness;
∫ A person by a hired killer, in which event both the person hired and the person responsible for hiring the killer shall be punished under this section; or
∫ A person while the defendant was imprisoned.
Stepien said he hopes that island residents, especially those who knew Aureo Moore, will understand what a “mellow, genuine, down-to-earth braddah” he was.
“He will be missed,” Ste-pien said. “Rest in peace, Cookie.”
Vicente Hilario, 24, of Anahola, has been charged with first and second-degree murder. David Kawaihalau-Manaku, 25, of Anahola, has been charged with second degree murder, but was released pending investigation and is now a key witness in the case.
Kawaihalau-Manaku is scheduled to testify before the 5th District Court on Jan. 20, at 8:30 a.m. He had been scheduled to testify on three different occasions, but Judge Trudy Senda had to re-schedule his testimony each time due to unforeseen circumstances.
∫ Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@kauaipubco.com.
