Medical examiners on Maui said the California attorney whose body was found at the base of a cliff on Sept. 1 died of asphyxiation.
The manner of death of Celestial S.D. Cassman, 35, of Santa Cruz is still being investigated by the Maui Police Department, police officials said Friday.
A male suspect, Gerald W. Galaway Jr., 38, also of Santa Cruz, remains hospitalized, police said.
Police responded to a report of a domestic violence dispute involving a man and woman on Kahekili Highway near mile marker 37 near Nakalele Point at 6:27 p.m. Sept. 1. Authorities found the woman’s body at 7:28 p.m. About 6:45 a.m. Sept. 2, officers were airlifted by helicopter to the rocky point at Nakalele where they found the male suspect, who had jumped into the ocean, and took him into custody. He was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Galaway was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail and charged with second-degree murder and kidnapping in Cassman’s death.
Officers seize 406 marijuana plants
Honolulu narcotics/vice officers uprooted marijuanagrowing operations Wednesday in Kahuku and Waimanalo, police officials said Friday.
The eradication operations netted 294 plants from Kahuku and 112 from Waimanalo, police Capt. Andrew Lum said. No arrests were made but the cases are continuing, Lum said.
Officers cite speeding, alcohol in crash
Speed and alcohol may be factors in a near head-on collision on Nimitz Highway that critically injured two men Thursday night, police said.
Police said the driver of a 2006 black Nissan Sentra swerved and lost control of his car and crossed into the Ewabound lanes of Nimitz Highway just past Waiakamilo Road, hitting a black 2000 Ford F-150 pickup truck at about 9:15 p.m.
The 24-year-old Kaneohe man driving the Sentra and a 24-year-old Aiea man in the passenger seat went to the Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition, but both men were later downgraded to critical condition, police said.
The Fire Department had to extricate the Aiea man from the wreckage, police said. Neither was wearing a seat belt.
A 35-year-old Waianae man driving the pickup truck went to Queen’s in good condition.
Police said the driver of the Sentra might have been speeding and might have been under the influence of alcohol.
Speed and alcohol are not factors for the driver of the pickup truck, police said.
Nimitz Highway between Alakawa Street and Waiakamilo Road was closed while police investigated the crash. Koko Head-bound lanes reopened just before 11 p.m. Ewa-bound lanes reopened at about 1:20 a.m.
Kauai bank robbery suspect is man from California
Kauai police arrested a 35-year-old Sacramento, Calif., man in the robbery of an American Savings Bank in Lihue on Wednesday.
He was arrested at 6:18 p.m. Thursday at the St. Regis Princeville Resort.
The robbery occurred about 1:10 p.m. Wednesday when a man walked into the bank, passed a note to the teller demanding money and pointed an unknown object at her from under his shirt, police said. The man walked out with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Police distributed a surveillance photo and description of the suspect with the help of local media. Through tips from the public, police were able to identify the suspect and locate him at the St. Regis Princeville Resort.
