Police arrested a 26-year-old man Tuesday morning on suspicion of second-degree murder after human remains were found in his Waikiki apartment.
Early indications were that the body was that of his mother, who had been dead a year.
Police said dispatchers received a call from the man early Tuesday, saying he was suicidal and that he had killed his mother a year earlier.
Responding officers found human remains at the scene, police said.
The man said he was responsible for the victim’s death, police said.
Police said the body was that of a woman, but would not confirm whether it was the man’s mother.
After the 911 call, police converged on the apartment building, at 414 Launiu St., where the suspect lives on the sixth floor. Officers remained at the apartment more than 13 hours after the discovery of a woman’s remains, awaiting their removal.
Neighbors said they saw police at apartment 605.
A Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office official said that as of 8:15 p.m. the office had received no word of any body recovery from that location.
Bonnie Greenlaw, who lives next door, said, “She was a nice lady, kept to herself.” She said the woman seemed happy, but she rarely saw the man.
Adam Cadorna, 31, lives across the hall from the apartment and arrived home from work late Tuesday afternoon.
“We had no clue,” he said. “We only saw someone open the door one time.”
Cadorna, who moved in with his husband six months ago, said they knew all the other neighbors on the floor and wondered whether anyone still lived in 605.
His husband, Qui Cadorna, 27, who was visibly shaken when he heard the news, said, “I don’t want to live here.”
Alison Hufana, 15, who lives in a neighboring apartment building, said: “It’s scary knowing that someone who was living there died, and no one ever knew it. Makes you wonder how long it was there. Sometimes I’m home alone with my younger brother and sister. Just knowing that someone was killed here, it’s unbelievable.”
