A former mortician accused of a near-fatal hammer attack on a downtown Hilo coin dealer took the stand in his own defense Monday in his attempted murder trial.
Robert Diego admitted striking 67-year-old Donald Nigro with a hammer on June 13, 2011, in Nigro’s Hualalai Street apartment, but told jurors that he was “protecting” himself.
“How do you feel about him getting hurt?” asked defense attorney William Heflin.
“I feel bad, but I’m lucky he … came out of the hospital within three days,” the 70-year-old Diego replied.
Diego’s testimony so far has not explained why he felt it necessary to defend himself with a hammer, although Heflin said in his opening statement and during cross-examination of Nigro that Nigro grabbed Diego’s crotch and was trying to assault him sexually, which Nigro has denied.
Nigro has testified that he brought Diego to his apartment to complete a deal for some rare and valuable coins Diego allegedly owned. He said that shortly after they entered the apartment, Diego hit him over the head from behind with a claw hammer and the attack was unprovoked. Nigro said Diego struck him repeatedly with the hammer as he tried to defend himself.
Nigro also said that both men ended up on the floor of the apartment during the struggle, and that Diego tried unsuccessfully to suffocate him with a plastic bag and strangle him with his bare hands.
Diego testified that on numerous occasions between 1995 and the incident, Nigro made numerous attempts to buy his collection of Hawaiian coins and would repeatedly call about them, sometimes calling more than once in a day.
“He was just being a pest,” Diego testified. He said that, at first, he wasn’t interested in selling the coins, which he wanted to leave to his children.
When asked by Heflin why he finally agreed to sell Nigro the coins, Diego replied: “Because it seemed like my kids wasn’t interested in the coins.”
Nigro has testified that when he met Diego to complete the transaction, he had an $18,000 cashier’s check, $1,000 in cash and several thousand dollars worth of jewelry in a fanny pack, which he said was the agreed-upon price for the coins.
Diego countered that he had gone to the library two days before the deal and checked some reference books on Hawaiian coins. He said his research found that the coins were worth “between 55- and 60-thousand dollars,” and that he asked Nigro for a $34,000 cashier’s check and $1,000 in cash for the coins.
“You heard Mr. Nigro testify you’d asked for an $18,000 cashier’s check that morning?” Heflin asked.
“No, I never asked for an $18,000 check,” Diego said.
“You heard Donald Nigro testify that, I guess, previously you had shown some interest in some jewelry. Did you hear that?”
“Yes.”
“Was it true?”
“No.”
When asked why he asked for $35,000 instead of the amount he believed the coins were worth, Diego replied that he had watched a reality television show set in a pawn shop and realized that the deal would have to be one that allowed Nigro to profit from a resale of the items.
Nigro previously testified that although he and Diego talked about the coins several times over the years, Nigro had never actually seen them.
Diego said on the witness stand that he had given Nigro the coins in early May 2011 to have them appraised prior to the deal.
Diego’s testimony is scheduled to continue at 9:30 a.m. today in Hilo Circuit Court.
