LIHU‘E — Granted immunity prior to the hearing, a direct witness to the murder of Aureo Moore testified against the defendant Friday in 5th Circuit Court. David Manaku, 27, offered testimony surrounding the shooting death of Aureo Moore, 34, at
LIHU‘E — Granted immunity prior to the hearing, a direct witness to the murder of Aureo Moore testified against the defendant Friday in 5th Circuit Court.
David Manaku, 27, offered testimony surrounding the shooting death of Aureo Moore, 34, at Anahola Beach Park on Dec. 17, 2010. The defendant, Vicente Kote Kapika Hilario, 26, is charged with first-degree murder, along with second-degree murder in the alternative, retaliating against a witness, intimidating a witness and bribery of a witness.
Manaku is one of three people who were arrested in connection with the murder. He testified that he and Jens Kyler Hanson-Loo were present at the scene but were unaware that Hilario planned to kill Moore.
County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Melinda Mendes said that without immunity, Manaku, who was present with witness attorney Guy Matsunaga, would otherwise assert his right protect himself against self-incrimination.
Chief Judge Randal Valenciano granted the order for immunity for compelling testimony. Manaku can be charged if he commits perjury, makes false statements or commits an offense in a violation of the agreement.
Mendes started her questioning to illustrate the relationship of Manaku and Hilario.
They were friends since childhood and were well aquatinted with the back roads of Anahola, Manaku said.
Manaku said he slept on the couch of Joseph K. Hansen Loo’s Anahola studio in 2010. He is the elder brother of Jens Kyler Hansen-Loo, the third person arrested in the murder case, who is scheduled to testify on Monday.
Kyler was a frequent visitor and Manaku said he was close to the little brother of his best friend. Kyler looked to Hilario as a role model, and emulated him to the point of growing his hair long, he said.
Hilario and Kyler came over several times a week. They would hang out and play video games or watch movies, and Manaku and Kyler would smoke marijuana together.
Hilario got the three of them jobs at Bouchons restaurant, Manaku said. They turned over their checks to Hilario, who would give them cash and drugs, he added.
Manaku, who is around 6 feet, 1 inch tall, said he weighed over 300 pounds in 2010. Still, he described Hilario as in control like “a master and his dog.”
As Hilario’s “collections” man, Manaku said he would restrain delinquent oxycodone buyers as “Vinny would proceed to hit them.” He testified to being a “door opener” and burglarized homes of delinquent clients.
After an objection from Hilario’s court appointed defense attorney Keith Shigetomi, the court instructed the jury to allow the information regarding collections, but to not consider any information about striking people or burglarizing in this murder case.
The Sunday prior to the murder, Manaku said Hilario emerged from Joseph’s room with a handgun. He was excited to join Hilario and Kyler in a brief target shooting event in the back roads of Anahola.
The three fired six rounds each at beer bottles on an old porcelain sink. It is the area now known as crime scene B, and where officers located several 25 caliber shells next to a tree.
Manaku said he treated the event as a recreational activity, and did not have any concerns that the gun would be used in a crime. Nothing was said, he added, Hilario put the gun in his pocket and they returned to the apartment.
The morning of Dec. 17, 2010, Manaku said Joseph had a job interview, and he and Kyler talked about laying net near Crack 14, a dive area, which was also near the pistol practice location the previous Sunday.
Hilario showed up and they went in his car to buy oil changing items in Kapa‘a. On the way back, Manaku said Hilario had a brief phone conversation that seemed to make him “excited or anxious” and he sped back to the apartment.
“Why didn’t you ask him what was going on?” Mendes said.
“I learned long ago not to ask Vinny about his personal things,” Manaku replied.
At the apartment, Manaku said Hilario emerged from the bedroom wearing a hoodie with a half zipper. Manaku said he thought they were going netting, and didn’t question Hilario when he ordered them out of the car and over the guardrail above Anahola Beach Park.
Hilario continued on down the road, and Manaku said he thought he was going to his grandmother’s house to bring back his uncle’s pickup truck and nets they would use at Crack 14.
He and Kyler walked down the slope and smoked marijuana while they waited. Minutes later, Manaku said a man exited a large vehicle above them near the guardrail.
Manaku said he did not recognize the Caucasian man above them on the road. They watched as he sat next to a tree and appeared to be waiting for something.
A few minutes later, Manaku said they heard rustling in the bushes below as Hilario emerged and walked slowly toward them. He had added a “beanie” as a makeshift ski mask that was normally used for paintball, he said.
“I knew something was going to happen,” Manaku said, expecting he would be told to restrain the man while Hilario worked him over.
Manaku testified to following Hilario over the guardrail, where he noticed the man at the tree had his eyes fixed toward the road. Before he knew what was happening, he said Hilario had something shiny in his hand and saw the flash of two gun shots.
The man yelled in surprise and attempted to run, Manaku said. Two more shots followed and the man fell to the ground.
Hilario then walked up to the victim and fired two more shots into the back of his head, Manaku added.
“I was dumbstruck,” Manaku said. “I couldn’t do anything. I was like a deer caught in the headlights.”
Without ever saying a word, Hilario took off running up the road toward the trails, he said. Manaku ran, too, and was in front for a short time before Hilario and Kyler quickly overtook him.
“Did you try to help the man?” Mendes asked.
“No ma’am,” Manaku replied.
“Did he appear to you to still be alive?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said.
Once the three reached the trails, Manaku said he lost sight of Hilario, and after coming around a turn, noticed he no longer had the hoodie. He caught up with them again at the Three-Rocks area, and said Hilario threw something wrapped in the beanie.
From its apparent weight and the distance it traveled, Manaku said he assumed it was the pistol being thrown into the inlet.
The three continued running and encountered two children on the trail. Then slowed their run to a walk on the road near Crack 14 as two trucks drove by them, he said.
After taking a path to the flats area near the old dump, Manaku said they avoided what looked like a police car or state vehicle near the main road.
By now they were hearing sirens and Manaku said Hilario gave him a cell phone and told him to stay put as he continued on with Kyler. Minutes later a helicopter appeared above and two police officers emerged and arrested him.
Manaku said the officer who took the cell phone showed it to him as it rang several times on the way to the road. He said the caller’s number was Hilario.
In his cross examination, Shigetomi, questioned Manaku about his admitted lies in six previous police interviews. He produced the transcripts of interviews taken on Dec. 17, 19, 20, and 21, 2010, Jan. 3. 2011, and April 14, 2012, asking if the information given in any of them is the same that was testified to today in court.
“No,” Manaku said.
You told police, “I just want to go home. I don’t even know what is going on,” Shigetomi said.
“Yes sir, that was a lie,” Manaku said.
Shigetomi went on quoting from the interviews, adding that Manaku said police asked specifically if he knew anything about a person being shot, and then said “no.”
“Yes sir, that was a lie,” Manaku said.
Manaku repeatedly denied involvement, and began to grow concerned as police found out more information from other sources to place Manaku in the park at the time of the shooting, Shigetomi said. The police then expressed concern that you might actually be the shooter, he added.
When faced with second-degree murder, or conspiracy to commit murder charges, Manaku told police that he absolutely did not want to go to jail.
Does the immunity agreement signed on Dec. 8, 2012 supersedes any previous agreements and includes the language about perjury, false statements or committing an offense in violation of the agreement? Shigetomi asked, calling it “the devil’s deal.”
“Yes sir,” Manaku replied.
Manaku will continue testimony under cross-examination from Shigetomi on Monday.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
