HILO — A recreational swimmer and snorkeler told a jury Tuesday he heard a man yelling from a home near the former Waiopae Tide Pools, later saw a man follow an older woman down the stairs of the same home, and subsequently saw the same man struggle with the woman’s lifeless, bloody body.
Laurence Klein testified he and his girlfriend, Sandra Mondragon, went to the popular recreational beach at the Kapoho Vacationland subdivision, since inundated by the recent lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kilauea volcano, in the mid-afternoon hours of Aug. 25, 2015.
The testimony came in the trial of Sean Rutledge, a 43-year-old former attorney facing a second-degree murder charge for the fatal stabbing of his 63-year-old mother, Nadean Rutledge.
Klein said he parked his Honda Pilot sport-utility vehicle outside the subdivision, and he and Mondragon walked to the beach, spending “about an hour-and-a-half, no more than two hours” at the popular swimming spot.
He said he walked back to the Pilot alone and returned to pick up Mondragon and their gear when he saw a man he identified in court as Rutledge closely following an older woman down the steps of the home at the corner of Kapoho Kai Drive and Waiopae Road.
According to Klein, as he was driving out of the subdivision and passed the house, Mondragon started yelling at him about something she saw, which caused him to reverse the SUV back to the home’s driveway.
Under direct examination by Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Hashizaki, Klein said he saw the same man and woman, but this time, the man was behind the woman at the bottom of the outside stairs next to the home’s driveway. He said the man had his arms under those of the woman, attempting to lift or move her.
“She was slumped over with pretty much the full weight of her body held up by the man,” Klein told the jury. “And she appeared to be lifeless, unable to stand on her own, in other words.”
“Could you see anything on the clothing of the woman that caught your attention?” Hashizaki asked.
“It was blood stains,” Klein replied.
Klein testified that after he stopped the vehicle, he “went around to the front of the car and yelled at the man.”
“I said, ‘What’s going on here? What’s happening?’”
According to Klein, Rutledge “let the woman drop to the ground” and approached him.
“He was yelling, ‘She made me do it.’”
According to Klein, Mondragon shouted at him to get back in the vehicle and drive away, and he complied. He said he drove to the Pahoa police substation, but was unable to get an officer to take his statement, so he and Mondragon left for home after about 10 minutes.
Brian De Lima, Sean Rutledge’s court-appointed attorney, chipped away at Klein’s recollection of details and inconsistencies between his testimony and an interview on Aug. 28, 2015, with lead police investigator in the case, Detective Grant Todd. The inconsistencies included whether the man Klein saw was shirtless or wearing a T-shirt and whether he had blood on him or not.
At one point, Klein appeared testy, telling De Lima, “Listen, this is three years ago. I’m 72 years old, and I don’t have the same recall or same information handy and available that you have. I don’t recall.”
De Lima also pointed out that Klein selected someone other than Rutledge from a photographic lineup shown to him by Todd.
“That’s the first I’ve heard that, sir,” Klein said.
De Lima then showed Klein the lineup, with Klein’s signature and a circle around the photograph of an individual that wasn’t Rutledge, although Rutledge’s image was part of the lineup.
“So, today, you’re identifying the person that’s sitting at the defense table,” De Lima said. “Back in 2015 … when the incident was fresh … you picked the wrong person in the photo lineup. Isn’t that true?”
“That’s true,” Klein replied.
“So you could be mistaken. Isn’t that correct?” De Lima queried.
“About what?” Klein asked.
“About Mr. Rutledge being the person you saw that day,” De Lima replied.
“No. I’m not mistaken,” Klein said.
The trial is scheduled to continue Monday in the courtroom of Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto, as the courthouse will be closed today, Thursday and Friday by order of Gov. David Ige because of Hurricane Lane.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.