Friend, police officers testify in murder trial

LIHU‘E — Testimony on Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of Vicente Kote Kapika Hilario included two police officers and a family friend.

Hilario is charged with the murder of Aureo Moore, 34, of Kapa‘a at Anahola Beach Park around 11 a.m. Dec. 17, 2010.

Shayda Sanay, age 34, said that on Dec. 17, 2010, she was living with her auntie and three young children in an Anahola subdivision. She became emotional as she told the court about seeing “Vinney” come walking down the road late morning or early afternoon with another man she did not recognize.

Hilario was a family friend, as they were all close to his grandmother, Sanay said. He acknowledged her, pulled his hair into a pony tail, and then the two men started run-walking as helicopters came in flying low over the neighborhood, she said.

When Sanay arrived back to Anahola from a doctor’s appointment in Lihu‘e, she heard from someone at the nearby charter school say there was a shooting.

She didn’t know that it took place in Anahola, she said, and was sitting in a tent garage with two nieces when the men walked by.

Hilario was wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts with no footwear, she said. The other person was wearing brown surf shorts and no shirt. She guessed that he was around 5 feet 5 inches tall and had short, light brown, surfer-style hair.

Sanay watched until the two men passed the intersection toward Manai Road and the Anahola Beach Park area. Officers were soon on the scene and she picked Hilario out of a photo lineup that afternoon. She was contacted again with more questions the following day.

Court-appointed defense attorney Keith Shigetomi, representing Hilario, asked Sanay if the men appeared to be walking normally. Yes, she said.

Shigetomi asked if they appeared to be avoiding detection or hiding their faces from anyone. No, she replied.

County Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Melinda Mendes, representing the state with co-counsel Ramsey Ross, asked if the two men were barefoot and did they run. Yes, Sanay said.

Officers’ testimony

The court reconvened after a 10:10 a.m. break with Kaua‘i Police Officer Christopher Vierra on the stand. His testimony said he and a field training officer were called to the crime scene around 10:56 a.m.

After meeting with detectives they were sent to search for suspects reported to be running from the area. They walked the trails leading from a former Anahola dump site toward the bicycle path, Vierra said.

After they saw three to five pairs of barefoot prints in soft, muddy dirt, they followed them back toward the subdivision. Along the route the two officers encountered a man sitting against a rock by a tree just off a trail around 12:20 p.m.

The man, who would later be identified as David Manaku, was wearing a white T-shirt that matched the description of a suspect. He was sweating and breathing hard and appeared to be using a cell phone, Vierra said.

The suspect placed the phone on a rock as police ordered his hands in the air, he said. After cuffing the man, Vierra said he placed the phone in a belt pouch.

Manaku was barefoot, panting, and asked for water, he said. They walked to an area call “the flats,” and then made their way toward the gated area along the highway and transferred him to waiting officers.

Shigetomi questioned the officer. He asked if Manaku was attempting to hide. After a pause, the officer said yes.

Regarding the cell phone, Shigetomi asked if it rang eight times during the 20 minutes it took to escort Manaku back to the highway. Yes, the officer said.

The cell phone would later become important evidence, Shigetomi said, and asked if he aware of its importance at the time.

No, the officer replied. He only thought it unusual that it kept ringing from the same phone number.

Manaku just said he had no idea who was calling, Vierra added. He said he was just running from the bicycle path.

Manaku was detained and not under arrest, Shigetomi said. He asked if Manaku was read his rights and if the officer held the cell phone to Manaku as an attempt to make him talk.

The officer said no, and that in serious cases like this, the questioning is left to the detectives. At one point, he said instructions over the radio said Manaku should be arrested for trespassing.

After leaving Manaku with other police officers, Vierra said they returned to the path and followed the footprints to where they ended near a residence at the edge of the subdivision.

Several barefoot prints that appeared to have been running, led them to a home with a gate and no trespassing signs, Vierra said.

Kaua‘i Police Sgt. Bernard Purisima is a detective and was assigned to be the property and evidence custodian the day of the murder. In addition, he conducted witness interviews and photo line-ups with Shayda Sanay, along with Rusty Ah Loo, and two divers Brehdan Kamibayashi and Austin Kekoa Alfiler, who testified Tuesday to seeing three barefoot men running along a road.

After it was determined that Hilario was a suspect, Purisima said he and Assistant Chief Roy Asher road an ATV to the soccer field area to see if Hilario would attempt to reach his grandmother’s nearby home.

Purisima said that Kalani Rapozo said Hilario has not been to his grandmother’s residence that day.

For the next several days, Purisima would return to the two crime scenes in Anahola and “bag and tag” the evidence that other officers located from two primary crime scenes. He recalled there were 23 spent shell casings and one case.

He recorded a white sweatshirt with black stripes and a hoodie that had been discarded near the first crime scene near Manai Road. A pair of denim shorts were also located nearby.

The gun was not located right away, Purisima said, and was not sure when or where it was found. He only recalled that Manaku was brought out to the scene each day to help locate it and other evidence.

Purisima would only say that he was not on the team that located the weapon. He saw it for the first time at Kaua‘i Police Department where he placed it into the evidence locker, he added.

Testimony in the trial will continue on Friday.

• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.