The 42-year-old man adopted just before the death of a Maui millionaire known as "The Baron" said he is happy with the settlement of a disputed $80 million estate left by an inheritor of railroad money.
In his first interview since the settlement was reached on Feb. 10 in Maui Circuit Court, Hans Michael Kanuha told the Star-Advertiser this week that he plans to lead a simple life in Kula running a country grocery store. He staunchly denied allegations that he insinuated himself into Laurence H. Dorcy’s life to get himself adopted and inherit a fortune originally left to 30 charities and 30 individuals.
Because of a court-ordered confidentiality agreement, Kanuha would not reveal details of the settlement.
But he adamantly disputed the most salacious allegations against him: that he conspired to get himself adopted and didn’t get Dorcy immediate medical care on June 2, when Dorcy died at the age of 76.
"Not true," Kanuha said repeatedly. "I promise, there was none of that. Not on my part. Not on anyone’s part."
The state Attorney General’s Office, which intervened in the case, represents the charities that originally were supposed to receive part of Dorcy’s estate and has yet to see the details of the settlement.
"But I expect 20 or more charities to receive a substantial, substantial sum of money," said Deputy Attorney General Hugh Jones. "We have every reason to believe Mr. Dorcy will leave a big legacy to them."
Jones had called the Dorcy case "a page turner" that "reads like a John Grisham novel."
At the heart of the case were two single Maui men without families who discovered one another in an apparently chance meeting in 2002 at Calasa’s Gas Station in Kula, which Kanuha owned.
Dorcy was known on Maui as "The Baron," but Kanuha called the yacht-loving Dorcy "Cap" — for captain. In turn, Dorcy and Kanuha’s friends called Hans Kanuha "Hanzy."
Dorcy was born into wealth in San Francisco in 1936 as the great-grandson of legendary railroad baron James Jerome Hill, the founder of the Great Northern Railway, who died as one of America’s richest men.
In a 2006 will, "there were 25 or 30 individuals to whom Mr. Dorcy left his stuff," said Kanuha’s Wailuku attorney, James Krueger. "But he never had a family. He never had children. He never had a loving family. He never had anybody to care about.
"The Baron was an antique car collector and Hans was running the gas station one mile from where The Baron lived," Krueger said. "The Baron would talk to him about cars. He met a younger guy who seemingly had similar interests and they hit it off. This is not some senile old man who was victimized by whatever wind blew his way."
In January 2011, Dorcy executed a second will that made Kanuha the recipient of his assets, then adopted Kanuha on April 4.
Krueger described his client as "a nice Hawaiian man who lives simply and ran the only gas station in Kula for the longest time who … then bought the only small market in Kula," Morihara Store.
"He’s very much a people person, a genuine, genuine person," Krueger said.
After Dorcy died, attorneys for some of the charities filed a lawsuit, and trial was set for March 12 to determine who would get Dorcy’s assets.
Krueger said he was eager to pursue the case to trial, but three-quarters of the way into marathon, nine-hour settlement negotiations, Kanuha felt vindicated, Krueger said.
"Hans said, ‘It’s not about the money. If I had $1 million or $20 million, my life is not going to change. I would rather have a situation where I’m free and clear,’" according to Krueger. "He said, ‘At this point I’m vindicated.’ Left to my own devices, I would have tried the case."
Michael Rudy, one of the attorneys representing Jeffrey Peterson, who until January 2011 was the personal representative for Dorcy’s estate, also was ready for trial in "one of the most fascinating cases" he’s ever been involved in.
"If you didn’t read it, you wouldn’t believe the story," Rudy said. "It really deserves a documentary because it’s crazy."
In court documents, Kanuha was accused of plotting against Dorcy’s interests with Petro Hoy, whom Kanuha allegedly introduced to Dorcy as "Henry Rice," a supposed financial and business adviser from a well-known Maui kamaaina family who could help guide Dorcy’s finances.
Hoy and his wife, Leatrice Lehua Hoy, were indicted by the FBI in May on fraud and tax-related charges for allegedly selling fake Treasury bonds and bogus property titles to Maui homeowners behind on their mortgages.
Rudy obtained tape-recorded conversations in which Dorcy believed "that he was dealing with a CIA agent working at high levels of the U.S. government" who in reality was Petro Hoy, Rudy said.
On Dec. 30, 2010, witnesses at Maui’s Sandalwood Restaurant told Rudy they saw a blindfolded Dorcy enter the restaurant with Kanuha and the Hoys.
Two days later, according to a witness who came forward, Dorcy told his old acquaintance that, "I’m dealing with this Mr. Rice and these are high-level, covert operations and I have to be blindfolded."
"The evidence was clear and convincing that Dorcy was being scammed," Rudy said.
Maui’s Chief Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto made a finding "that the elements of undue influence have been established and therefore, the burden has shifted to prove there was no undue influence."
"We alleged, basically, a conspiracy," Rudy said. "Had there been a trial, Kanuha would have had to prove by clear and convincing evidence, perhaps, that he had not committed it. So it is ludicrous to me that Kanuha can say he was vindicated, but I guess he has a First Amendment right to say it."
Rudy will serve as the administrator for dispersing Dorcy’s assets.
Rudy thanked witnesses who came forward after the Star-Advertiser first reported on The Baron’s disputed will in October.
"This was a very difficult, fact-intensive case," Rudy said. "Without the press, without the public coming forward, we couldn’t have gotten this result. It was a jigsaw puzzle. We had people everywhere giving us clues, so we were able to put together dates and timelines."
Dorcy’s estate included "give or take $70 million" from a 1917 trust in Minnesota that originally was intended to be passed on to 30 private charities and another 30 individuals, Rudy said.
Dorcy also held about $6 million in cash and owned 25 to 30 collector cars, condominiums in Waikiki and Lahaina and an enormous compound in Kula that included a custom-designed, 10,000-square-foot home and “five or six other homes surrounding it,” Rudy said.
"It’s a huge compound," he said. "It is something out of this world. It is very, very impressive."
It could take six months before some of Dorcy’s assets are dispersed, Rudy said.
But it will likely take years before all of Dorcy’s assets can be liquidated.
Kanuha’s attorney, Krueger, warned Kanuha that long-lost friends and relatives are likely to hit him up for cash or investment opportunities now that a settlement has been reached.
But Kanuha said he has yet to be bothered by anyone.
"People weren’t saying anything to my face, but they were saying things to my employees at the store," Kanuha said. "It really affected some of my employees. Other people were shocked with what the other attorneys were saying. All in all, I got to see who my true friends were, which was important to me and lifted me up and helped me to stay on course."
Kanuha insisted that he is now focused on resuming a simple existence in Kula, living in his modest, three-bedroom home.
"I love simple, country living and that’s what I want to continue to do — nothing over-the-top," Kanuha said. "My plans are to continue running the store. The only thing that changed for me was the emptiness when The Baron passed."
