A Kawaihae man who pleaded guilty to murdering a popular Kona musician in late 2013 was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.
Martin Frank Booth assumed the role of “judge, jury and executioner” when he killed 37-year-old Robert Keawe Lopaka Ryder, 3rd Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Strance said before sentencing the 56-year-old to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Booth pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Oct. 15. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped an enhanced sentencing measure that would have denied him parole.
“Mr. Booth, you ruthlessly murdered Robert Keawe Lopaka Ryder. He was a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew, a cousin, a friend and he positively touched the lives of countless others. By your account you assumed the role of judge, jury and executioner for a crime that Mr. Ryder did not admit to have committed or for which he had been found guilty by a jury of his peers,” Strance said.
She continued, “today, you are held accountable to society for your cruel and senseless actions. And, ironically while it will test the fabric of this community, you are extended the benefit of the rule of law that rules that even your life is precious. It does so without expectation that you will change or even have remorse for your crime. What the law hopes, I think, is that at some point a seed of conscience will germinate from your dark heart and you will grow a full appreciation of the harm that you have caused and through that appreciation you may find a meaningful life in prison.”
The Hawaii Paroling Authority at a later date will determine the minimum amount of time Booth must serve before he is eligible for parole. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sheri Lawson told West Hawaii Today after the hearing that the state, as part of Booth’s plea agreement, would remain silent about the case before the parole board.
Booth will receive credit for time served and the sentence will run concurrent to sentences handed down in October in three unrelated criminal cases, including a 20-year term for methamphetamine trafficking that mandates Booth remain behind bars for at least eight years. Booth was also ordered to pay $505 in fees.
Prior to being sentenced, Booth apologized to Ryder’s family and friends.
“Lopaka was a very talented and loving person. He was a friend of mine. I’m sorry,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do to change that and what I’ve done, and for that I am sorry and there is no excuse.”
Booth’s attorney, Fred Giannini, asked Strance to consider his client’s history of abuse and that Booth can change.
“I would ask that this court, in any sentencing of Mr. Booth, remember he is a man who has made mistakes but who is redeemable and has expressed his knowledge that what he did is wrong and therefore he is able to change. He is not someone who should be discarded, but should be looked at as somebody who may change and redeem his life,” Giannini said.
Ryder’s mother, Debra Ryder, was the only relative of the victim to speak during Monday’s sentencing hearing.
“You are inhumane to take someone’s life like you did my son. He was a kind and loving person. He was God’s child; Lopaka believed in him and he tried his best throughout his 37 years to apply what the lord guided him to do,” she said. “You will have nightmares and you will have flashbacks for murdering my son. You need to put God in your heart so he can help you live the rest of your life behind bars and my family and I will make sure of that. And, in the end only God will judge you according to your actions and the way you choose to live your life.”
Booth was indicted June 9 on the single charge of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Ryder. According to the indictment, Booth killed Ryder between Nov. 30 and Dec. 17. Ryder’s family reported him missing Jan. 17 after not hearing from him since Thanksgiving.
Police in March located Ryder’s decomposing body in a lava field between Puako Beach Drive and Queen Kaahumanu Highway in South Kohala. 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.
According to a police affidavit filed in 3rd Circuit Court, the killing came after a 28-year-old woman reportedly told her boyfriend that Ryder had assaulted her in a trailer the woman shared with her boyfriend on Booth’s South Kohala property. The woman’s boyfriend then relayed the information to Booth. Booth, according to the affidavit, confronted the woman who told him the accusation was true.
Several days later, Booth told the woman he had shot and killed Ryder for “what he had done to her,” according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also provided details on the killing, which occurred in the garage of Booth’s home. Among the details were that Ryder was shot by Booth twice with a 9mm handgun and that a hammer had been used to bash his head after Ryder tried to hit Booth with his ukulele. Booth and another man then transported the body, wrapped in plastic, to be disposed of while another man stayed behind to clean up the area.
Neither of the men, who served as witnesses in the police investigation, were charged in connection with the slaying.