Schofield Soldier Charged with Exposing Himself

Schofield Soldier Charged with Exposing Himself

Written by Tina Chau – tchau@kgmb9.com

September 26, 2007 03:38 AM

Kenneth Stanley, 22, was in his military garb when his mug shot was taken.

The soldier was arrested at Schofield Barracks and has been charged with exposing himself to young girls as they walked home from school.

Police said there are at least seven victims and that the flasher tended to strike between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Two of the alleged incidents happened within blocks of each other in Aiea, on Lalani Street and Olopana Street and a third one in Mililani by Mililani High School.

Police said all three took place on separate days.

“As a parent here, I’m concerned for the children in the area,” said Mililani mom Cesceli Nakamura.

Several area schools have alerted parents about two guys in a black car driving up and down Kipapa Drive in Mililani, apparently putting on these unwelcome shows.

It is unclear whether it is related to the Stanley case, but parents are worried, especially after another alarming incident near Mililani High last week.

Police said a man tried to kidnap a 14-year-old girl by pulling her into some bushes.

Fortunately, she got away.

“She struggled and was able to get free,” said the school’s vice principal.

Letters were sent home to parents about that incident along with details of other reports by students who said they were offered drugs near campus.

This current case has parents being extra careful.

“I do have my young one who bikes to school and she comes home by herself sometimes,” said Neille Hagen, a mother of three. “We just informed them not to ever take a ride home with a stranger even if they presented themselves as a police officer.”

An official from Schofield Barracks said they were unaware of any arrests, but are looking into the incident.

Source: http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/337/40/

Soldier Arrested for flashing girls in Mililani

Suspected Flasher Arrested

By: Mari-Ela David

MILILANI (KHNL) – There’s been a recent rash of crime near Mililani High School, but Honolulu police say they’ve made at least one arrest to keep the area safe.

Officers arrested a man at Schofield Tuesday morning. 23-year-old Kenneth Stanley is suspected of flashing females ages 12 to 16.

He faces charges of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault. Stanley was wearing fatigues, but Schofield could not confirm Tuesday that he is a soldier.

Although police have nabbed a suspected flasher, two men who tried to kidnap two girls on separate occasions are still on the loose.

In light of the recent crime, school leaders urge all students to stay on alert.

Within the last five months near Mililani High School, men have targeted female students. One man tried to kidnap a teen last week. Another attempted kidnapping happened in April. Now, a man is in custody for alledgedly flashing girls near Mililani and Aiea schools.

“You don’t hear about stuff like that happening in Mililani so it’s just kind of scary,” says Mililani High School graduate Jessica Dodd.

In light of the crimes, staff issued letters warning students not to walk alone.

“Even though they’re in high school and they think that they’re safe, they need to be with buddies all the time. We told them to carry whistles and different things to attract attention if they need it,” says Mililani High School Principal Dr. John Brummel.

“I’ve been able to walk the streets at 12:00 in the night and nobody has ever bothered me and something like this happens, it makes me think a lot about walking by myself,” says Dodd.

Dr. Brummel says the community has also stepped in to help protect students.

“We’ve had parents that wanted to come in and do self-defense classes for kids and they knew of contacts and so we’ve had all kinds of support from the community since this has happened,” he says.

That support is what staff says students still need, judging by the handful of students who continue to walk to and from school by themselves.

Police aren’t sure if the man they nabbed Tuesday is the same person who flashed two female students two weeks ago.

Stanley is being held on $7000 bail.

Source: http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?s=7129399

Witnesses For Military Murder Trial Killed

Helicopter Crash Killed Witnesses In Corrales, Shore Trial

Witnesses For Military Murder Trial Killed

By KITV Honolulu

August 26, 2007

Honolulu – KITV has learned that many of the Hawaii-based soldiers killed in a helicopter crash this week in Iraq were witnesses in the murder trial of two Schofield soldiers.

Hawaii-based soldiers Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales and Spc. Christopher Shore are charged with premeditated murder of an Iraqi civilian.

KITV’s Denby Fawcett reported that soldiers killed in the crash Wednesday were in the platoon of Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales.

Corrales was their sergeant until he was reassigned after he was charged with the pre-mediated murder. Some who perished in the crash had been scheduled to testify against Corrales, Fawcett said.

“It could have a very dramatic impact if those witnesses are key witness and their testimony cannot be presented in some other form,” military law attorney Eric Seitz said

Corrales’ lawyer is Texas attorney Frank Spinner. When reached by phone, he declined to comment.

Corrales is accused of shooting of an Iraqi detainee several times on June 23 and allegedly ordered Shore, who was Corrales’ subordinate, to keep shooting the man who later died.

The Army said fellow soldiers reported the killing.

“If these witnesses are no longer alive, there is no way for the accused or their counsel to question them. Unfortunately, it could mean that there is no trial,” retired military lawyer Earle Partington said. “Obviously, it depends on what witnesses the government still has.”

Seitz said the case against Corrales and Shore might progress if both parties and the court agree to allow previous statements from now dead witnesses to be presented in court.

“If I were the defense lawyer, I certainly would object, at some point, to going forward in a case where my witnesses have not been allowed to be made available,” Seitz said.

Corrales wife, Lily, and their children live on Oahu at Aliamanu Military Reservation.

Lily Corrales declined to be interviewed on camera, but over the phone she said she was devastated about the deaths of her husbands’ fellow soldiers.

“This was our military family. We are devastated. Our hearts and prayers go to the families, their loved ones and to the soldiers who gave their lives,” she said.

Trey Corrales and Shore could face the death penalty if convicted of pre-meditated murder.

Their preliminary court proceeding will be held in Hawaii in mid-October, officials said.

External link: http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/13977406/detail.html

Ex-military sex offender, tied to fallen televangelist Ted Haggard

Ted Haggard and the Man Behind “Families With a Mission”

posted by Dan Savage on August 24 at 16:38 PM

Ted Haggard, as we learned today on Colorado Confidential, wants you to pay for his and his wife’s living expenses while they go to college-they’re destitute, you see. (Colorado Confidential reports that the Haggards currently own a house in Colorado Springs valued at close to a three quarters of a million dollars.) In an open letter sent to Haggard’s gullible “supporters,” the disgraced preacher gives two addresses where money can be sent. Checks can be sent to Haggard’s mailing address in Phoenix or, if a supporter needs a tax deduction, checks can be sent to Families With a Mission, a charity based in Colorado Springs. “[Write] their check to ‘Families With A Mission’ and put a separate note on it that it is for the Haggard family,” Haggard writes in the letter posted on Colorado Confidential, “then Families With a Mission will mail us 90% of the funds for support and use 10% for administrative costs.”

As posted earlier, local attorney and Slog reader Dave Coffman located documents on file with the Colorado Secretary of State that showed Families With a Mission “voluntarily dissolved” on February 23, 2007.

Hm. Weird-who knew you could get a tax deduction from dissolved charity?

And it gets weirder: There’s only one name on file with the Colorado Secretary of State in connection with Families With a Mission: Paul Huberty.

Huberty is the “registered agent” of Families With a Mission and the registered agent’s mailing address-POB 63125, Colorado Springs, CO 80962-3125-is the same address Haggard included in his letter to his supporters. Another address on file with the Colorado Secretary of State for Families With a Mission is 855 Pebble Creek Ct., Monument, CO 80132. That’s the charity’s “principal office mailing address.” According to the Assessor’s office in El Paso County, Colorado, 855 Pebble Creek Ct. is a private residence owned by Paul Huberty. (The only other address listed for Families With a Mission is a home that Huberty used to own.)

And here’s what Coffman learned when he started searching through public records: A man named Paul G. Huberty was convicted of having sex with his 17 year-old ward while he was in the military and stationed in Germany. Paul G. Huberty eventually moved to Hawaii, where he was on that state’s sex offender registry-you can download a PDF here. Hawaii’s sex offender registry mentions a conviction for a sex offense in 2004. Court records in Hawaii show that Paul G. Huberty was found guilty of attempted sexual assault in January of 2004 (download ‘em here, here, and here), and sentenced a year in jail with all but six months suspended. Huberty was also put on probation for five years, ordered to take polygraphs, not allowed to possess pornography, “not allowed on the property of Kona Christian Academy” and other schools, not allowed to posses firearms, forbidden from foster parenting or being the guardian of a minor, and ordered to pay restitution to a crime victims fund.

When Paul G. Huberty’s moved out of the state of Hawaii he was required to register his new address, which he did: 855 Pebble Creek Ct., Monument, CO 80132, the “principal mailing address” for the charity Families With a Mission, which also happens to be a home owned by Paul Huberty, the registered charity’s agent.

So the man who heads up the defunct charity Families With a Mission-the charity that’s going to take a 10% cut from all “tax deductible” donations to the Haggard family-would appear to be a registered sex offender. Well, in Hawaii at any rate. Paul Huberty has not, according to publicly available records, registered as a sex offender in Colorado, something he is required to do by state law. Coffman put in a call to officials in Colorado to see if Huberty has registered too recently to appear on the sex offenders website, and he’s waiting to hear back.

Nice friends you got there, Ted.

Source: http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/families_with_a_mission

Sexual misconduct unbecoming an officer

Sexual misconduct unbecoming an officer

JROTC teacher investigated at Kealakehe High

By Shawn James Leavy
Wednesday, August 8, 2007 9:35 AM HST

A Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) teacher is awaiting disciplinary judgment from the DOE and undergoing investigation by county prosecutors for allegedly having sexual relations with a Kealakehe High School student. The alleged contact was first reported to law enforcement on April 10th. If proven true, the case at Kealakehe will be marked as an extreme incident calling into question the JROTC’s unchecked access and influential presence within U.S. public schools.

The Hawai`i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney said they are investigating the sexual misconduct case, but have yet to make any charges.

Hawai`i State Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Compliance Director Susan Kitsu said the DOE’s internal investigation of the JROTC teacher has been referred to DOE Complex Area Superintendent Art Souza and Kealakehe High Principal Wil Murakami for disciplinary judgment. “I’m not sure where they’re at,” said Kitsu.

When asked what the status of the case is, Murakami said “the case is closed,” but later clarified that the DOE’s investigation has been completed. When asked what disciplinary action the DOE intends to take, he said that decision will not be publicly released. “In the DOE, any matter that is a personnel issue . . . with regards to the result, that is kept confidential,” said Murakami.

Souza was off-island at a superintendent’s leadership retreat and was unavailable for comment.

A July 25th West Hawai`i Today article on the incident did not specifically mention or disclose that the teacher in question is affiliated with the Army. In the article, Souza said “the circumstances of the case may warrant the involvement of another decision-making party,” alluding that the case would require a disciplinary judgment by the military.

The Kealakehe High School JROTC Department states its mission is “to motivate young people to become better citizens, strengthen character by teaching values associated with service life and develop leadership potential.” JROTC programs, which run through the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, are taught as elective courses at more than three thousand high schools nationwide. There are JROTC units in 25 out of the 42 total Hawai`i Public High Schools. The program is highly regarded by state lawmakers, who fund the program with assistance from the federal Department of Defense. In June 2006, Governor Linda Lingle lauded the program, saying “JROTC cadets are our future leaders. They are role models for their peers and we hope that they will continue to give back to the community.”

In a 2003 funding appropriation by the state legislature for the Kealakehe High JROTC, lawmakers stated “the legislature finds that Congress established the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program in 1916 with the broad mandate to develop good citizenship and responsibility in young people. JROTC courses are led by active duty and retired military personnel who teach good citizenship, personal responsibility, and service to country. Unlike college-level ROTC programs, JROTC programs do not obligate participating students to join the military. JROTC programs build self-discipline, teamwork, motivation, and confidence in young people, which decreases school-related disciplinary problems for many participating students.

Kyle Kajihiro, director of the Hawai`i American Friend’s Service Committee, has a critical view of the program. He stated “JROTC is a vehicle for grooming recruits and for propagating and normalizing military ideology in our schools and community. It tends to desensitize us to the organized violence that warfare represents.”

Ret. Lt. Colonial Malakie of the Kealakehe High Army JROTC and Ret. Lt. Commander Annette Schlegeimilch of the Waiakea High Navy JROTC both stressed that their JROTC teaching is not a recruiting tool for the military. Congressional records indicate otherwise.

For example, the Senate Armed Services Committee Report on the National Defense Authorization Act for 2000, stated “the committee recognizes that there is a direct relationship between the JROTC program and recruitment. Strong testimony from the Joint Chiefs of Staff this year confirmed this relationship. More than half of the young men and women who voluntarily participate in this high school program affiliate with the military in some fashion after graduation.”

Before the Military Personnel Subcommittee House Committee on Armed Services, commenting on sustaining the U.S.A.’s All-Volunteer Force, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Rudy De Leon made the following direct statements.

“With regard to recruiting, surveys of Junior ROTC cadets indicate that about 35 percent of the graduating high school seniors in School Year 1997-98 with more than two years participation in the JROTC program are interested in some type of military affiliation (active duty enlistment, officer program participation, or service in the Reserve or Guard). Translating this to hard recruiting numbers, in FYs 1996-1999, about 8,000 new recruits per year entered active duty after completing two years of Junior ROTC. The proportion of JROTC graduates who enter the military following completion of high school is roughly five times greater that the proportion of non-JROTC students.”

In November of 2006, the San Francisco School Board voted to eliminate JROTC from its city schools. Critics of the move, including San Francisco’s mayor, said it would cause the city to be identified as disrespectful towards the sacrifices of men and women in uniform.

A credo posted on the Waiakea JROTC classroom wall, says, in part:”This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My rifle without me is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me . . . Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but PEACE.”

Kajihiro says that “the spread of military culture in our schools is a big problem if we truly want to reduce violence in schools.”

“Military discipline is based on a rigid hierarchy, an unquestioning obedience to orders, and when this fails, intimidation and force. Military culture is also charged with a highly aggressive masculinity that tends to denigrate women. This feeds the high rates of sex assault and domestic violence in the military.”

Listeners to local radio station Da Beat 95.9 FM, or any other youth-aimed program, often hear military recruitment ads that say, “serve your country, get regular paychecks and earn money for college . . . ”

In addressing the issue of potential sexual misconduct by its teachers, the Marine Corps JROTC instructor’s handbook states, “instructors must, at all times, avoid any and all occasions of fraternization with cadets, especially with the opposite sex. Admiring cadets often idolize instructors as role models, and there may be an occasion when a cadet attempts to be personal and affectionate with an instructor. Any confirmed incident of an improper relationship between an instructor and a cadet will be cause for immediate de-certification from the Marine Corps JROTC program, and may result in legal charges.”

“The alleged sexual encounter between a student and a JROTC instructor represents an abuse of power and is symptomatic of the bigger problem of militarism,” said Kajihiro. “Local school and elected officials need to stop their uncritical deference to the military and become stronger advocates of our youth and our community.”

He continued “while we must hold the individual JROTC instructor accountable . . . let’s not lose sight of the larger systemic and policy issues raised by this case.”

Source: http://www.bigislandweekly.com/articles/2007/08/08/read/news/news03.txt

Hawaii-Based Soldiers Charged With Murder

KITV.com

Hawaii-Based Soldiers Charged With Murder

Corrales, Shore Allegedly Killed Iraqi Civilian

POSTED: 2:04 am HST July 29, 2007
UPDATED: 2:19 am HST July 29, 2007

HONOLULU — KITV first reported about premeditated murder charges against two Hawaii-based soldiers.

Now, the Army has released details of the charges.

Army records charged Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales with murdering an Iraqi detainee, after he allegedly shot him numerous times.

The charge sheet also alleged that after Corrales shot the Iraqi, he ordered his subordinate, Spc. Christopher Shore, to keep shooting the detainee.

Shore and Corrales are both stationed in Iraq with Hawaii’s 25th Infantry Division.

Corrales wife, Lily, lives in Oahu at the Aliamanu Military Reservation and said Corrales was doing what he was told to do..

“I would see these, I would say, as unjust charges. I believe my husband was doing his job,” Lily Corrales said.

Lily Corrales has hired a high-profile civilian attorney, military law specialist Frank Spinner, to defend her husband.

Corrales has set up a Web site for her husband through which donations can be made to his legal fund.

Spinner is a graduate of Waipahu High School.

He told KITV Saturday that the Iraqi Corrales is accused of shooting was not a civilian, but a combatant.

Source: http://www.kitv.com/print/13776514/detail.html

Kealakehe High School JROTC instructor accused of sexual contact with female student

The “teacher” referred to in the following article is actually a JROTC instructor.

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Big Island teacher awaits charges for alleged sexual misconduct

Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:16 AM HST
Stephens Media

A male Kealakehe High School teacher, who was placed on administrative leave, has yet to be charged with a crime in regard to an alleged incident of sexual contact with a female student.

READ MORE

Ex-Marine and wife accused of starving daughter, attempted murder

Posted on: Thursday, July 19, 2007

Relatives tried to help starving Hawaii girl

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

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A malnourished 12-year-old girl – who weighed just 50 pounds – was found in January by emergency medical personnel in a unit of this apartment complex at 809 Kina’u Street. JEFF WIDENER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Denise Wright

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Melvin Wright

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Melvin and Denise Wright were arraigned this month in Circuit Court via remote camera. Advertiser library photo

Relatives of a 12-year-old girl allegedly starved by her parents tried to provide food for the girl and pleaded with her parents to feed her for almost a year before she was removed from the home, the girl’s uncle said.

Dennis L. Wright, 39, said he did not alert police or the state Department of Human Services because the extended family “more than has the means to help and provide for the child.”

Dennis Wright tried to convince the girl’s parents to seek assistance after he and his wife saw the girl emaciated and hungry in May 2006. Emergency medical personnel went to the home in January of this year and found her malnourished.

The girl – who weighed only 50 pounds – was placed with a foster family. Her parents, Melvin Wright Jr. and Denise M. Wright, were indicted July 3 on a charge of attempted second-degree murder.

Dennis Wright and his wife tried repeatedly for more than a year to contact the girl’s parents, but were rebuffed or ignored, he said yesterday in an interview. The girl’s parents said the girl was “sleeping” or “not feeling well” whenever Dennis Wright and his wife asked to visit, he said.

Dennis Wright, a Navy veteran who now works for the U.S. Postal Service, finally confronted his brother, an ex-Marine, in May 2006 by showing up unannounced at Melvin Wright’s Kina’u Street apartment.

There, Dennis Wright said, he saw his niece propped up in bed, emaciated and barely lucid, with a bowl of chips in her lap that she could hardly hold.

“My wife was the first person to see her and she came out of that room and said, ‘You need to come in here right now.’ I was completely shocked. That’s when I said, ‘What the heck is going on here?’ No one said, ‘We are in dire straits here and we need help,’ so we have no idea why this happened,” said Dennis Wright.

“To me, it is unfathomable that you would do this to a child. My child will eat before I eat. They obviously had enough money to pay the rent and it doesn’t look like they starved themselves. Normal people don’t do this and a psychiatrist is going to have to figure this out. We tried to help them and obviously it didn’t help anybody.”

Dennis Wright and his wife repeatedly pleaded with both Melvin Wright and Denise M. Wright to get help for themselves and the child or at least accept donations from family members, including the girl’s grandparents.

“They (Melvin and Denise M. Wright) just gave us excuses as to why they hadn’t gotten help already,” Dennis Wright said. “It pretty much boiled down to, ‘We don’t have time.’ They wanted to do it on their own time not on the timetable it needed to be done. I’m sick to my stomach every day thinking about it. We’d have to badger them to get them to give her food, and every time we questioned them they would drop out of sight. You can only offer the help; you can’t shove it down their throats.”

After seeing the child in May 2006, Dennis Wright said he drove to a military commissary and bought food for the girl while his wife tried to persuade Denise M. Wright to apply for state and federal welfare aid.

GRANDMA TRIED, TOO

Over the next seven months, Dennis Wright and his wife bought food for his niece and her parents on at least four other occasions before the girl’s parents stopped returning phone calls or responding to knocks on the door.

Denise M. Wright’s mother also was sending food to the girl from the Mainland, Dennis Wright said. He said he continually called his brother and his wife to ask if they needed food.

The next time Dennis Wright heard about the girl was when he saw a television news report about paramedics pulling her from the Kina’u Street apartment.

Deputy public defender Debra Loy, who is representing Denise M. Wright, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

PARENTS ARRESTED IN ’00

The family first came to the attention of authorities in January 2000, when Melvin and Denise M. Wright were arrested on a charge of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. Neighbors called police and told them the girl – then 5 – was locked in a room for 12 hours a day without food, water and bathroom access.

Neighbors, who saw the girl in 2000, described her as emaciated and malnourished.

The girl was returned to the Wrights a month after she was taken into custody and before a final judgment was reached in the case. The Wrights received one year of probation and were ordered to attend parenting classes, which they successfully completed.

Authorities who responded to the apartment this year found the girl weighed less than 50 pounds. A typical 12-year-old girl weighs 80 to 85 pounds.

The girl’s parents were indicted July 3 on charges of attempted second-degree murder. Both pleaded not guilty, and a trial is set for Sept. 10. Child Welfare Services has had foster custody of the child since January.

UNCLE WANTS ANSWERS

Dennis Wright said the girl’s grandparents, Melvin J. Wright and Alice E. Wright of Charleston, S.C., are trying to adopt her. When reached by telephone, Alice Wright declined comment.

Dennis Wright said he and his wife were unaware of the 2000 abuse case.

Since his brother’s arrest this month, Dennis Wright has made statements to a Honolulu police detective, the city prosecutor’s office and has testified before an O’ahu grand jury about the case, he said.

Dennis Wright said he saw his brother and his niece about three times between 1995 and 2001. Each time, she appeared malnourished and sickly, he said. He lost all touch with his niece and brother after he was stationed in Washington with the Navy in 2001.

Dennis Wright said his parents asked him to find out what happened to their granddaughter, whom they had not heard about in years. Dennis Wright, his wife and three daughters moved back to Honolulu in 2005.

Before May 2006, the last time Dennis Wright or the girl’s grandparents saw the child was 2001 when she was 7 years old and still wearing diapers during Dennis Wright’s wedding and a family trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

“Everybody was asking, ‘What’s going on?’ but no answers were forthcoming and it would always feel like pulling teeth to get it,” he said. “I’d like to have some answers, but I know there are no answers coming.”

KEY EVENTS IN WRIGHT CASE

Following is the sequence of events in the case of the starving 12-year-old:

FIRST INCIDENT

Jan. 22, 2000: Melvin Wright Jr. and Denise M. Wright arrested after allegedly bolting their then 5-year-old daughter in a room without food, water and bathroom access for up to 12 hours a day, five days a week.

Jan. 23, 2000: A nurse at Wai’anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center determines the child was not abused.

Feb. 23, 2000: 5-year-old Wright girl returned to custody of parents.

May 25, 2000: Denise Wright pleads no contest to misdemeanor charge of endangering welfare of a minor, receives a year’s probation and is ordered to attend parenting classes. Melvin Wright pleads not guilty.

June 26, 2000: Melvin Wright changes his plea to no contest and receives the same sentence as his wife.

BETWEEN INCIDENTS

Prior to June 2001: Girl, then 7, is seen emaciated and wearing diapers at wedding of uncle and on family trip to Polynesian Cultural Center, according to the girl’s uncle, Dennis L. Wright.

May 2006: Dennis L. Wright shows up unannounced at his brother’s Kina’u Street apartment. The girl, then 11, is found emaciated and bedridden.

Over next several months: Dennis Wright starts the first of a half-dozen food trips for the girl.

CURRENT INCIDENT

Jan. 7, 2007: Paramedics called to the Kina’u Street apartment after one of the parents calls 911 and said their daughter would not eat. The 12-year-old Wright girl is found malnourished and unresponsive, weighing less than 50 pounds.

July 3: An O’ahu grand jury indicts Denise M. Wright and Melvin Wright Jr. on a single charge of second-degree attempted murder.

July 6: Denise M. Wright arrested at her Mo’ili’ili apartment. Bail is set at $100,000.

July 9: Melvin Wright Jr. arrested on a warrant at 11:38 a.m. at his Waipahu residence. Bail is set at $100,000.

July 12: Melvin Wright Jr. and Denise M. Wright plead not guilty and are at the O’ahu Community Correctional Center awaiting a Sept. 10 trial date.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Source: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Jul/19/ln/FP707190356.html

Counterfeit bills coming in through military personnel returning from the Middle East

Officials Say L.A. Gangs Using Counterfeit Bills In Waikiki

Counterfeit Bills Appearing In Waikiki, Shopping Centers

POSTED: 4:33 pm HST July 18, 2007

HONOLULU — Thousands of dollars worth of counterfeit $100 bills are flowing into Hawaii, most likely from Los Angeles-based gangs, according to Secret Service officials.

For the last week or so, $2,000 to $2,500 a day in counterfeit $100 bills have been passed at retail stores in Waikiki and across the islands, the Secret Service said.

Some high-end Hawaii retailers are taking a hit.

“These are counterfeit $100 bills. They’re being passed all over Waikiki as well as the shopping centers,” U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Al Joaquin said.

The Secret Service believes at least four members of the Los Angeles-based Cryps and Bloods gangs are in the islands passing the phony money.

“What the passers are doing, they’re buying expensive items and in a very short period of time they’re returning items and of course getting genuine currency back,” Joaquin said.

Law enforcement officials said the bills are being made on high-quality printers. They said the Cryps and Bloods have passed $5 million worth nationwide.

Some bills are getting by clerks even though they are using special pens that are supposed to detect counterfeit.

“In many of these cases, people said, ‘Well, they passed the pen test.’ Well, the pen test doesn’t work. It’s not good,” said Tim Haverly, who runs security at the Marine Surf Hotel.

Both private security and the Secret Service said the pens are not reliable.

Check for watermarks when bills are held up to a light, Joaquin said. Make sure the image in the portrait area of the bill and the watermark are the same individual because some $5 bills are being made into 100s, he said.

“We have set out fraud alerts with security as well as (the Honolulu Police Department), and we feel confident that we’ll have these individuals in custody before long,” Joaquin said.

Along with the phony $100 bills from California, law enforcement officials said counterfeit bills are coming in through military personnel returning from the Middle East.

Copyright 2008 by KITV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Soldier stabs pregnant ex-wife, kills son

Boy allegedly slain while saving mom

His father faces two murder counts in the attack on his family

By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

Fourteen-year-old Tyran Vesperas-Saniatan was trying to restrain his father so his wounded, pregnant mother could flee when he was fatally stabbed in the neck, Big Island police said.

Authorities charged the boy’s father, Tyrone Vesperas, a full-time Hawaii Army National Guardsman who served in Iraq, with second-degree murder yesterday, as well as first-degree attempted murder and use of a deadly weapon.

Police recovered the weapon Vesperas is suspected of using: a military-type folding knife.

Vesperas allegedly stabbed his 34-year-old estranged pregnant wife, Cheryl-Lyn Saniatan, in the abdomen multiple times on Monday morning at his Ainaloa subdivision house in Puna.

The Hilo woman, who was pregnant and due any day, is in stable condition, but the unborn child did not survive the attack, police said.

Police said the man and his estranged wife had gotten into a dispute, which quickly turned violent.

Puna patrol officers found Vesperas in the garage of his house and the boy’s lifeless body inside the home, police said. Police immediately arrested Vesperas.

Vesperas-Saniatan attempted to hold back his father so his mother could escape from the house, police said. During the struggle, the teenager received a stab wound to his left side of his neck, cutting his jugular vein, which caused his death, an autopsy yesterday revealed.

Police said the first 911 call to police was made at 11:30 a.m. from someone who said he had been stabbed at an Ainaloa residence. Saniatan made the second 911 call from her vehicle. She was found on the side of the roadway near the six-mile marker on Highway 11 in Keaau.

Staff Sgt. Tyrone Vesperas is a full-time federal technician and, up until this point, was a guard member of good standing, said Maj. Chuck Anthony, spokesman for the Hawaii National Guard. Vesperas served with the 29th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq from February 2005 to January 2006, and worked in the maintenance shop, Anthony said.

Anthony said every soldier returning from a combat zone undergoes a series of briefings. They are first screened with a questionnaire, which is used to possibly refer soldiers for physical or psychological follow-ups.

He said it is hard to generalize the effects of deployment upon soldiers because their reactions differ greatly. “Some see horrific combat and have no problems readjusting to civilian life,” he said, while others may not see any combat but suffer from stress.

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/06/14/news/story10.html