A 21-year-old Kurtistown man pleaded no contest Monday to second-degree murder for his role in the slaying of a 44-year-old Hawaiian Acres man in late 2012.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara set sentencing for Kawena Krause for 1 p.m. Dec. 2. Krause and his cousin, 32-year-Claude Keone Krause, are accused of killing Dante Peter Gilman on Dec. 28, 2012, at Gilman’s home. In exchange for Krause’s plea, prosecutors dropped charges of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, second-degree theft, and use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.
According to terms of the plea agreement, he will be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole and prosecutors will recommend to the Hawaii Paroling Authority Krause’s mandatory minimum sentence be set at 20 years.
Claude Krause is scheduled to stand trial Nov. 3 before Hara. He could face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole because prosecutors are requesting extended sentencing, alleging the murder was “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.”
Both Krauses are being detained without bail in Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
The elder Krause was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2001 for sex assault and burglary. The victim in that crime was Mayapple McCullough, a founder of the group Citizens for Justice, who was a vocal critic of police and worked tirelessly to bring killers to justice in at least two high profile Big Island murder cases: the Christmas Eve 1992 abduction, rape and murder of Dana Ireland, which resulted in the convictions of Frank Pauline Jr, Albert Ian Schweitzer and Shawn Schweitzer almost a decade later; and the Nov. 27, 1992, murder of Yvonne Mathison, which resulted in the conviction of her police sergeant husband, Kenneth Mathison.
She died in Arkansas in 2009.
Deputy Prosecutor Jack Matsukawa told Hara if Kawena Krause was tried, the evidence would prove “Kawena Krause choked Mr. Gilman until he was dead.”
“That’s the case that you’re pleading no contest to?” Hara asked Krause.
“Yes,” he replied.
According to court documents, video surveillance footage from Gilman’s home showed Claude Krause pointing “what appears to be a rifle” at Gilman, and Kawena Krause, then 19, choking the victim until he stopped moving.
A teenage boy who also was at the scene was questioned, according to police, but has not been charged.
Gilman’s girlfriend, Alohalani Silva, told the Tribune-Herald last year that Gilman installed the cameras several months earlier because he feared the Krauses after they had stolen a motorcycle from him. She said he reported the theft to police and then had an acquaintance she described as “a big man” confront the Krauses.
She said the Krauses then told Gilman they would take his pickup truck and kill him and added Gilman would rather “let them kill him” than allow them to steal his truck.
Court documents state the Toyota Tacoma truck was stolen, that Claude Krause drove it for a few days and then traded it for a Chevrolet pickup and $500.
Silva said the Krauses stole the video cameras, ransacked Gilman’s home after killing him and stole several items, but couldn’t find the surveillance system’s hard drive containing footage of the homicide. She said she turned the hard drive over to police detectives.
Gilman, a one-time competition surfer, was the son of the late Peter Gilman, a Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter in the 1950s and author of the best-selling novel “Diamond Head,” which was made into a 1963 film starring Charlton Heston. The younger Gilman was reported missing Jan. 10, 2013. His body was found 12 days later by police along the “Tree Planting Road” off Stainback Highway in Panaewa.
While searching for Gilman’s body off Stainback on Jan. 18, police found another body. It turned out to be Shayne Yoshi Kalani Kobayashi, a 38-year-old Pahoa man with a lengthy criminal record who testified for the state in Pauline’s 1999 trial in the Ireland case. Kobayashi, who was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison for second-degree sex assault, had his sentence reduced in exchange for his testimony.
Kobayashi, who also was a victim of foul play, had been missing since Dec. 11, 2012. According to Lt. Greg Esteban of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section, the Krauses are not suspected of the slaying.
“Although the bodies were found in close proximity to each other, the investigation into Shayne Kobayashi’s death is leading us into another direction, and the case is being actively investigated at this time,” he said Monday.
Police ask anyone with information about Kobayashi’s case to call Detective Todd Pataray at 961-2382 or email him at tpataray@co.hawaii.hi.us. Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300.