KEALAKEKUA — A blanket submitted as evidence during a murder trial for the Miranda-Garcia brothers was identified by the decedent’s widow as a piece of material she put in her late husband’s truck to keep dog hair off the back seat.
Eber Miranda-Garcia and his brother Marlon are accused of third-degree murder in the death of Dolores “Lolo” Borja-Valle. The 69-year-old was found dead in a Captain Cook coffee field of Keopuka Mauka Road on Aug. 9, 2015.
On Tuesday, Lolo’s widow, Maria Brand took the stand. With the assistance of a court interpreter, she testified that she and Lolo had been together on and off all their lives.
Brand explained that she lived in Canada. However, she spoke to her husband every day, sometimes four times a day.
Deputy Prosecutor Sheri Lawson presented a photo of a dog for Brand to identify. Brand told the court it was Lolo’s dog, Toby.
“The dog constantly traveled with us,” she said.
In an effort to keep dog hair off the back seat of Lolo’s truck, Brand testified that she cut a piece of white or beige cloth and put it on the seat.
Brand then identified that blanket to be a piece of evidence when Lawson presented it to her in court.
In earlier testimony, former Hawaii Police Detective Walter Ah Mow identified the same blankets to be found at the scene where Lolo’s body was found. The blankets were also depicted in photographs taken at the crime scene.
Mariana Borja, Lolo’s daughter, also took the stand Tuesday morning. She explained to the jury through the assistance of a court interpreter that she and her mother have lived in Canada for 18 years while her father lived on the Big Island.
“We got papers for Canada and he got papers for Hawaii,” Borja testified. “He loved it so much he didn’t want to come to the cold.”
Borja told the court that she and her mother would visit her dad every year. Lolo also made trips to Canada.
The last time they were all together was in June of 2015.
Lawson provided a photo of a man for Borja to identify. Through tears, she said: “mi papa.”
During her visit in June of 2015, Borja told the court that the Miranda-Garcias were living upstairs in her father’s house. She helped her dad seal up a door of an adjoining room to Lolo’s downstairs area so Marlon Miranda-Garcia and his brother Himer could move in.
The day finished with testimony from FBI Special Agent Edwin Nam. Part of the Cellular Analysis Survey Team, he testified that Hawaii police asked him to perform historical cell site analysis for the phone numbers of Eber Miranda-Garcia as well as his brothers, Marlon and Himer. Police also requested cellphone information on Eber’s wife, Jessilyn Hoohuli.
Lawson submitted into evidence Nam’s reports on Miranda-Garcia brothers’ phones as well as Hoohuli. Defense counselors Wendy DeWeese and Terri Fujioka-Lilley objected to each report on foundation and relevance.
However, Judge Robert D.S. Kim overruled their objections.
Nam explained to the court that his reports for Eber and Marlon Miranda-Garcia show their cellphones were used by towers near where Lolo’s body was found as well as where Lolo’s truck was discovered in Ocean View.
Nam testified that the path of travel for the cellphones of Eber and Marlon Miranda-Garcia were north in the Keopuka Mauka Road area to south in the Ocean View area.
Nam told the court that his analysis also shows that cellphones for Eber Miranda-Garcia and Marlon Miranda Garcia were in communication.
Nam also testified that his reports indicate the cellphones for Hoohuli and Himer Miranda-Garcia remained in the area of Lolo’s home in Holualoa.
The trial resumes today starting with Nam continuing his testimony on the cellphone data collected, followed by cross examination.