Hilo Circuit Judge Barbara Takase denied bail this week for Varaha Mims, charged with attempted first-degree murder and three counts of attempted second-degree murder in the May 23 stabbings of three people in Hilo.
The 28-year-old man allegedly used a 4- to 5-inch knife to stab two strangers outside a Hilo bar May 23 — Skyler Nelson, 28, of Pahoa, and Sarah Steinbrecher, 27, of Hilo — and his former landlord, John Giuffre, 49, at his Wainaku home.
Nelson was hospitalized in critical condition at the Queen’s Medical Center with a punctured aorta, Deputy Prosecutor Joe Lee said.
Giuffre, stabbed more than 20 times, was hospitalized with a punctured lung, he said. Steinbrecher, stabbed in the back, was treated and released.
Mims was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, but Lee said he asked the court to set aside bail since he is a California resident who has been on Hawaii island for only four months, is homeless and has no source of income and no family on the island other than a girlfriend.
"Our concern was that if bail was posted, there is nothing to keep him here," Lee said.
A hearing on whether Mims is mentally fit to stand trial is set for July 8.
Mims allegedly stabbed Nelson and Steinbrecher outside a Hilo bar, allegedly damaged a car, then went to Giuffre’s Wainaku home, where he allegedly broke in and stabbed him, then fled to an acquaintance’s Hilo home where he was arrested.
Mims was also charged with first-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal property damage and faces a drug charge.
