LIHUE — The last time Gary Allianic Sr. saw his son, Gary Allianic Jr., was Friday afternoon in his home where they lived with the younger man’s wife and two children. “I asked him, ‘Where’s Lauren,’ and then I gave
LIHUE — The last time Gary Allianic Sr. saw his son, Gary Allianic Jr., was Friday afternoon in his home where they lived with the younger man’s wife and two children.
“I asked him, ‘Where’s Lauren,’ and then I gave him a cigarette,” Allianic Sr. said.
Those were the last words he said he spoke to his son before police told him Saturday his son had been found dead in a parking lot under suspicious circumstances.
The body of Allianic Jr., 38, was found early Saturday morning near War Memorial Convention Hall.
Kauai Police Department investigators believe Allianic died of injuries sustained in an assault.
An autopsy scheduled Thursday will determine the cause of death, said Sarah Blane, KPD spokeswoman.
Allianic Jr.’s wife, Lauren Allianic, said she is heartbroken, especially for her two children.
“He was a good dad,” she said. “He always paid attention to them. He always made time for his kids.”
Her 7-year-old is taking it the hardest, she said.
“‘When is daddy coming home,” she asks. “He’s not, baby. And she just cries.”
Allianic Sr. and Allianic’s wife said Allianic Jr. left their Lihue home about 1 a.m. Saturday.
Shortly after 6 that night, KPD arrested Francisco Keola Manuel, 37, in Lihue, Blane said.
Manuel is being held at KPD’s cellblock on $1 million bail pending charges.
He will be arraigned today in District Court, Blane said.
Jasmine Duque said she was with Manuel when a fight started and said it was self-defense.
“He’s just protecting me and my baby,” the 30-year-old said.
On Friday, between 10 p.m. and midnight, she said she and Manuel were going to meet at the Civic Center to walk home together. As she made her way through the alley by Garden Island Barbecue, she saw Manuel standing in the parking lot, she said. She went to meet him. She said Allianic, Jr. — a former boyfriend of Duque’s — was there and came after Manuel.
“Gary swung at Keola (Manuel) and I stupidly got in the middle,” she said. “Gary grabbed me and used me as human shield.”
Duque said Allianic Jr. grabbed her by the waist and that’s when the knife came out. She said she doesn’t know who had it, she doesn’t know how it happened, but somehow she ended up with a stab wound on her back left side.
“You stabbed her,” she remembers Allianic Jr. shouting.
Immediately following the fight, which Duque described as a short altercation, Manuel became panicked and took her to the emergency room. He was panicked, she said, because just a week and half earlier, Manuel and Duque found out she was six weeks pregnant.
“I was losing a lot of blood,” she said.
Duque said if there is anything Manuel is guilty of it’s protecting her and her unborn child. She said he took off his shirt and tried to stop the bleeding on her wound.
She said she and Manuel were too focused on getting her to the hospital to be concerned about Allianic Jr, or hurting him further.
“When me and Keola left, Gary was alive,” Duque said.
They did not call police.
A Garden Island newspaper carrier found Allianic Jr.’s body’s about 4:45 Saturday morning near War Memorial Convention Hall and called police. She said police told her Allianic, Jr. was found on the sidewalk where Garden Island barbecue employees have their lunch.
“It makes no sense, because he had his cellphone,” Duque said. “If he had his cellphone, why would he not call for help?”
Duque said police have a four to five-hour gap in their investigation and “are missing something.”
Duque said two KPD investigators interrogated her under sedation after she was brought to the hospital and did not allow her father to see her.
Police said Manuel will be arraigned in the District Court at 1 p.m. today.
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Michelle Iracheta is the police reporter. She can be reached at 245-0424, (832) 729-2105 or miracheta@thegardenisland.com
