LIHUE — A Princeville man charged with attempted murder for allegedly injuring a man and threatening another with a machete at Anini Beach was in court Thursday. Kyle Matthew Welch, 28, appeared before Fifth Circuit Court Chief Judge Randal Valenciano
LIHUE — A Princeville man charged with attempted murder for allegedly injuring a man and threatening another with a machete at Anini Beach was in court Thursday.
Kyle Matthew Welch, 28, appeared before Fifth Circuit Court Chief Judge Randal Valenciano to hear the state’s arguments about several statements Welch made to police before and after he was arrested.
Welch is charged with attempted murder in the second degree and terroristic threatening in the first degree for a fight with two other men on Anini Beach.
On Jan. 9, 2014, officers responded to a call at 1:55 p.m about an argument at a campsite 150 yards west of the river at the end of Anini Road.
According to police reports, the argument was over religion and music, and became so violent that Welch grabbed one of the men into “an arm bar” and allegedly began striking him. The third man tried to break up the fight, but Welch allegedly threatened him with a machete, according to reports.
When officers found one of the victims, he was conscious and lying on a mat surrounded in blood and had a head laceration, according to police reports. He told police he had been beaten with a shovel, knife and machete.
Welch was arrested later that day. He was found holding a guitar and a machete, according to Kauai Police Officer Brad Candido, who testified Thursday.
Candido said he was one of the officers who responded to the call of “someone screaming for help.” As KPD officers approached the scene, Candido said he saw “Mr. Welch come out of the bushes.”
Candido said he commanded Welch, who was about 20 to the 30 feet away from the officer, to drop the machete and the guitar.
Welch made three statements to police during his contact with them, according to reports.
His initial statements were made prior to being arrested right after the incident occurred. Two other statements were made as he was in the KPD car and then four days later at KPD cellblock.
In the police reports, officers observed Welch “covered in what appeared to be blood droplets, blood smears, and he had minor injuries consistent with a physical altercation.”
Candido said Welch had told him spontaneously that he had “just beat the (expletive) out of some guy.”
He was not able to recite the statements verbatim as to what was in the report, but he did mention several comments Welch made to him, including that Welch said that the alleged victim “was probably dead.”
The court ruled the spontaneous statement to police was admissible as evidence, because they were not responsive to specific questions by Candido. Welch was not in custody at the time, Valenciano said.
The report was entered as evidence for Welch’s Feb. 8 trial.
Welch made two additional statements to KPD Detective Scott Williamson after the initial spontaneous statement.
The first was after his arrest on Jan. 9, 2014, while Welch was in the back of the police vehicle.
Williamson testified he read Welch his Miranda rights at that time, and that Welch invoked his right to an attorney. Those statements were made inadmissible as evidence.
A third statement to police was also made admissible as evidence as it was taken at police headquarters and the court ruled Welch had been the initiator of the contact.
