A badly decomposed body found off Stainback Highway is that of Dante Peter Gilman, police said on Monday.
The 44-year-old Gilman, who lived in Hawaiian Acres, had been originally reported as missing. Police later said he had been murdered and court documents stated that the murder had been caught on Gilman’s home video surveillance system.
Gilman was identified through dental records, police said. They have not released the cause of death pending additional forensic analysis. Police are also working with an anthropologist from the Joint POW Accounting Command/Central Identification Laboratory from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Oahu to perform additional examinations.
Gilman’s body was found after police received an anonymous tip at about 5:18 a.m. Jan. 22 of a body off “Tree Planting Road.” The tip led to what Lt. Greg Esteban called a focused search for the body.
Two cousins from Kurtistown, 30-year-old Claude Keone Krause and 19-year-old Kawena K. Krause, have been charged with the homicide.
Both Krauses have pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, second-degree theft and use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony. The elder Krause also entered a not guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
They’re scheduled to appear today in Hilo District Court for a preliminary hearing.
According to court documents, Gilman’s ex-girlfriend’s daughter reported Gilman missing on Jan. 10 and told police Gilman’s Road 10 home had been burglarized; among the items missing were a 42-inch television and video surveillance cameras from outside the home. Two motorcycles and a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck were also believed to be stolen.
Police obtained the video surveillance system’s hard drive, viewed the video, and discovered that on Dec. 28 at about 6 a.m., an Isuzu sport utility vehicle drove onto Gilman’s property and a man carrying a baseball bat got out of the passenger seat and started talking to Gilman in his driveway. The man struck Gilman in the face with his left fist, documents state.
Gilman started to run to the front of his property and then back to the house, according to the documents. At that time, another man pointed “what appears to be a rifle” at Gilman. A struggle then ensued between Gilman and the man who held the baseball bat. That man “wrestles Gilman to the ground and is seen choking Gilman for a period of two minutes and nine seconds,” the documents state, and when the man releases Gilman, his “body appears limp and lifeless.” The man who pointed the rifle then picked up Gilman’s right leg and dragged him out of the camera’s view.
The two men and a boy then went into Gilman’s house and left with several items, including a backpack, tools and motorcycle helmets, the documents state.
Police later identified the man with the rifle as Claude Krause and the man with the baseball bat as Kawena Krause.
Documents state that Claude Krause then traded Gilman’s pickup truck to another man on Jan. 11 for a Chevy pickup and $500.
Documents also state Claude Krause’s former girlfriend told police that Krause picked her up to take her to lunch on Jan. 4 in a white Toyota Tacoma pickup and asked her, “Do you know whose truck this is?” When she replied she didn’t, Krause told her, “This is Dante’s truck.” When she asked how Krause got the truck, he said, “Don’t worry. Dante is no longer.” She told police she didn’t ask any more questions out of fear Krause might hurt her, according to documents.
Police recovered the Toyota pickup, the Chevy pickup and the Isuzu, which Claude Krause had also sold to another individual. A search of the Toyota produced a laptop computer and car stereo belonging to Gilman. Also recovered was a .22-caliber handgun from Gilman’s backpack, documents state. Officers also executed a search warrant on Claude Krause’s home and discovered a .30-30 rifle and a .22 rifle and ammunition.
Claude Krause was arrested the afternoon of Jan. 17 at a Hawaiian Paradise Park home. The home’s resident told police that Krause had told him he intended to shoot it out with police if they came to get him. The man told Krause “not here” and Krause surrendered to police documents state.
Kawena Krause was arrested the following day in Kurtistown.
Gilman’s body was the second found within a week off Stainback Highway.
The first body was found on Jan. 18, and turned out to be 38-year-old Shayne Yoshi Kalani Kobayashi of Pahoa, a sex offender who testified for the state in the 1999 trial of Frank Pauline Jr. for the Christmas Eve 1991 abduction, rape and murder of Dana Ireland. Kobayashi, who was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison for second-degree sex assault, had his sentenced reduced in exchange for his testimony.
Police said they found Kobayashi’s body while looking for Gilman’s. Police said Kobayashi had been missing since Dec. 11.
“Investigative information was developed but information we got was really vague, so we put together a task force which consisted of patrol guys, all the investigative division personnel, community policing and canine units up there, too,” Esteban said. “We scoured each road up there off Stainback, and because of that, we did make a discovery.”
Police suspect that Kobayashi was also the victim of foul play, but have made no arrests in the case and haven’t said if they believe the Krauses are responsible. Kobayashi’s body, also badly decomposed, was also identified through dental records. Police have not released preliminary autopsy findings, pending toxicology tests.