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The defendant in a September 2011 fatal stabbing at Mayor Wright Homes pleaded guilty to murder in state court Wednesday.
Takson Krstoth, 22, faces a mandatory life prison sentence with the possibility of parole at sentencing in July.
The Hawaii Paroling Authority will decide how much of the life term Krstoth will have to spend behind bars before he will be eligible for parole.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the prosecutor promises to recommend a 15-year minimum.
Police said Krstoth stabbed TJ "Tipuk" Mori, 24, in the back with a foot-long kitchen knife following an argument between the two men near a garbage bin at the public housing complex on Sept. 10, 2011. Krstoth fled, but police caught up to him two blocks away, where a witness identified him as the stabber.
Mori’s fiancee told police she didn’t know why the two men, who are both from Chuuk, formerly Truk, were arguing.
Mori’s death and two later stabbings, one fatal, prompted the Public Housing Authority to beef up security at Mayor Wright Homes.