Kawaihae man pleads guilty to murder of Kona musician

A Kawaihae man has pleaded guilty to murder in the 2013 death of Kona musician Robert Keawe Lopaka Ryder.

Martin Frank Booth on Oct. 15 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder before 3rd Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Strance. Strance will sentence Booth, who remains incarcerated at Hawaii Community Correctional Center, on Dec. 22 in Kona.

Ryder’s family reported the 37-year-old man missing Jan. 17. They had not heard from him since Thanksgiving, according to a Hawaii Police Department media statement.

Police located Ryder’s decomposing body in a lava field in South Kohala in March. He was found between Puako Beach Drive and Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

Media outlets attributing a police source said officers in March reported being led to the body by a person who told them he had been coerced by another individual to “corner” Ryder, and that the alleged accomplice said he saw that individual shoot Ryder and that he assisted the alleged shooter in disposing the body.

In March, the medical examiner determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and the manner of death was homicide, according to police.

Booth was indicted June 9 by a Kona grand jury on the single charge of second-degree murder. According to the indictment, prosecutors say Booth killed Ryder between Nov. 30 and Dec. 17.