Hilario murder trial goes to jury

LIHU‘E — Attorneys made final arguments Wednesday in the first-degree murder trial of Vicente Kote Kapika Hilario. The courtroom was nearly full for the first time since jury selection began in January.

Chief Judge Randal Valenciano of the 5th Circuit released the only remaining alternate juror prior to deliberations. There were three jurors excused from the trial since it started on Feb. 5.

Among those present in the gallery were Kaua‘i Chief of Police Darryl Perry, Assistant Chief Roy Asher and several members of the police department. County Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar was also present with several deputy prosecutors.

In her arguments, County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Melinda Mendes said Hilario, 26, planned and participated in the ambush and murder of 34 year old Aureo Eric Moore at Anahola Beach Park on Dec. 17, 2010. Moore died three hours later after being shot five times.

“The defendant had the motive and the means,” Mendes said. “He picked the location, the date, the time and arranged for (Angienora ‘Pua’ Crawford) to drive Aureo Moore into a trap. … Aureo was enticed to his death.”

Mendes described Hilario as a leader and not a follower. He gave people orders, and they ran errands for him, she said. He expected loyalty and witness Jens Kyler Hansen-Loo was loyal to the bitter end in his testimony that Hilario did not shoot Moore.

Two witnesses testified that a smaller man shot Moore, and that a slower and larger man followed him up the road, she said. The phone records dating back to August 2010 corroborate the trail of evidence that a plan to ensnare Moore was unfolding.

Hilario wanted payback for spending 20 days in jail related to the alleged armed robbery of Moore near Safeway at Kaua‘i Village Shopping Center on Aug. 21, 2010. Mendes said he also wanted to make sure that Moore didn’t testify on Dec. 27 against his friend Kyle Akau regarding the same robbery.

Mendes said Hilario attempted to influence the testimony of Crawford, another witness in the robbery, with oxycodone pills. He would finally use that addiction to have her drive Moore unwittingly to his death at Anahola Beach Park.

The six pills Hilario gave her on Dec. 17, and the $100 he refused as payment, was payment for her silence, she said.

Court appointed defense attorney Keith Shigetomi reminded the jury of its obligation to look for reliability in evidence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt — and not base their decision on probability.  

He said the phone records showed nothing more than a drug deal developing between Hilario and Crawford, who was buying the pills for Moore. He said the meeting between Hilario and Moore was arranged but didn’t take place because Moore had told Crawford he had changed his mind about testifying against Akau.

The testimony of David Manaku was built on lies and changed to match the testimony of other witnesses in an attempt to protect himself, Shigetomi said. They gave immunity to the man who shot Moore and so the detectives and prosecutors were desperate to make the pieces fit Manaku’s version to get a jury to convict Hilario.

“This could not have happened the way that David Manaku claimed,” Shigetomi said, adding it made sense that Hilario and Hansen-Loo would want to leave the person who shot Moore behind, as they did on the trail in Anahola after the shooting.

Mendes defended the police, saying that the line of questioning was designed to get a response from the witnesses. She told the jury that they shouldn’t think that their words quoted from the transcripts are what they actually thought.

She said the defense has built a case off Monday-morning quarterbacking the investigation. As a principal or an accomplice, she said the facts say that Hilario is guilty of instigating and carrying out a first-degree murder of a witness and bribing another witness.

• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0424 or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.