HILO — A 35-year-old Honokaa man allegedly held a 42-year-old Hilo woman against her will last week, choked her, struck her, pistol-whipped her, twice put a .38-caliber revolver with one bullet in the cylinder to her temple and pulled the trigger, and beat and shot a small dog to death during a violent domestic incident.
Bronson Lee Ganigan is charged with kidnapping, use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony, domestic abuse, felony animal cruelty, second-degree assault, four counts of reckless endangering and two counts of terroristic threatening for the incident in upper Kaumana that allegedly occurred between Aug. 13 and Thursday.
According to court documents, the woman told police she had been in a sexual relationship with Ganigan but didn’t live with him or consider him her boyfriend. She reported that on Aug. 13, she was with Ganigan at his father’s Hilo home when Ganigan put a bullet in the cylinder of the revolver, spun the cylinder, put the handgun to her left temple and pulled the trigger. The weapon did not discharge.
Ganigan allegedly told the woman he wouldn’t let her go and if she left him, he’d tie her up and kill her and her family. She said Ganigan carried the revolver in his waistband and that she feared for her life and didn’t feel free to leave.
On Aug. 15, Ganigan allegedly again put the revolver with a single bullet to her left temple and pulled the trigger, documents state. Again, the gun didn’t fire.
On Wednesday, Ganigan reportedly knocked the woman down with an open hand to the head, then climbed atop her and started choking her with both hands. After she freed herself, he allegedly struck her right ear with the butt of the pistol.
On Thursday, the woman said Ganigan whipped a chained small dog belonging to an acquaintance in a fit of rage, stomped on its head, struck its head with a metal object and then shot the animal twice, killing it. The woman reportedly managed to escape and ran to her brother’s house about a quarter-mile away.
That evening, Ganigan allegedly walked toward the brother’s house carrying a long rifle and fired twice from the roadway. The woman, her brother and the brother’s girlfriend were inside the house at the time, but none were injured by gunfire.
Ganigan was arrested later that night, originally on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder, although prosecutors didn’t file those charges.
On Monday, Hilo District Judge Diana Van De Car ordered Ganigan to appear at 2 p.m. Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. He remained in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center on Monday evening in lieu of $34,500 bail.
The most severe charges, kidnapping and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, are Class A felonies that carry a potential 20-year prison term upon conviction. According to court documents, Ganigan has no prior felony convictions.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.