KEALAKEKUA — A brother accused of murder took the stand in his defense on Friday, telling the jury a different alibi than the one he told officers during the initial days of the investigation in the 2015 slaying.
Marlon Miranda-Garcia told the 3rd Circuit Court he was on his way to his normal Saturday party spot when he stopped and gave a hitchhiker a ride — a different story than when he told officers he was at home asleep the night of the killing.
Marlon Miranda-Garcia and his brother, Eber, face the charge of second-degree murder in the death of Dolores “Lolo” Borja-Valle.
The brothers were also accused of conspiracy to commit murder, but Judge Robert D.S. Kim dismissed with prejudice the charge against both defendants Friday, meaning the prosecution cannot bring them again.
Lolo’s body was found on Aug. 9, 2015, in a Captain Cook coffee field off Keopuka Mauka Road.
The Hawaii Police Department didn’t make arrests in the case until last summer when it took Marlon and Eber Miranda-Garcia into custody and charged them in August of 2017.
“On Saturdays, we always used to go to a place called Las Martas,” Marlon Miranda-Garcia told the court on Friday.
He said he left the house between 9 and 9:30 p.m. to meet his brother Himer in Kona. The Miranda-Garcias were living in Lolo’s home at the time. Eber and his wife, Jessilyn Hoohuli, lived in the upstairs portion of the house. Marlon and Himer lived downstairs in a room next to Lolo.
Marlon Miranda-Garcia testified he drove Eber’s car since the headlights on his vehicle weren’t working. As he made his way from Holualoa into town, the defendant said he saw a woman hitchhiking and decided to pull over and give her a ride.
“I’ve always done that,” Marlon Miranda-Garcia stated when asked if he typically picked up hitchhikers. “I do it because the place I’m from, when I was 13 years old I used to do the same.”
While he wasn’t clear on directions or addresses, Marlon Miranda-Garcia said that they drove away from Kona when the car started having issues by the courthouse in Kealakekua.
“It was stalling, the gauges would come down,” he told the court.
The defendant said he called his brother Eber, but the car started to operate and he continued on — but then the car broke down in the area of Hookena. He called Eber again, who was able to help him fix it.
After he got the car going again, Marlon Miranda-Garcia said he drove south a bit longer and dropped off the hitchhiker.
When he got back to Kona, the 25-year-old testified, he called his brother Himer about the party at Las Martas. He got home at 2 a.m. the next morning. It was unclear in his testimony whether or not he went to Las Martas.
Marlon Miranda-Garcia told the court he doesn’t remember seeing Eber that night after he left to go to Las Martas. He thinks he saw him at 10 a.m. the next day.
“On August the 8th did you kill Lolo?” Deputy Public Defender Wendy DeWeese asked her client.
“No,” her client responded.
DeWeese asked if Marlon Miranda-Garcia helped Eber kill Lolo or if the two of them were together that Saturday.
“No,” he said to both questions.
Marlon Miranda-Garcia told the court that he had a good relationship with Lolo and that the 69-year-old would always give him and his brothers advice.
During cross-examination, Deputy Prosecutor Kauanoe Jackson asked Marlon Miranda-Garcia if he recalled telling officers in 2015 that he was home Aug. 8, 2015, and went to bed at 6:30 p.m.
“Yes,” he said.
Jackson also asked Marlon Miranda-Garcia if he recalled telling officers during an interview at the police station on Aug. 18, 2015, that he didn’t go out that night.
The defendant said he didn’t remember.
Jackson responded with a question: will reviewing a video of your interview refresh your memory?
“Can I explain something about that question?” Marlon Miranda-Garcia asked.
Jackson repeated the same question, to which he responded in the affirmative. Earlier during the weeks-long trial, prosecutors used cellphone tower data to place the brothers’ cellphones near the scene where the body was found as well as the spot where Lolo’s truck was discovered.
After reviewing the video, Marlon Miranda-Garcia said “yes” in response to remembering telling officers he didn’t go out that night.
Jackson continued to pepper the defendant with questions about the drive south with the hitchhiker. Where exactly he picked her up, where he dropped her off, how long the car was broken down, what the area looked like in the place he dropped the woman off, how long it took him to go south and come back.
Marlon Miranda-Garcia answered vaguely on locations. He said he didn’t know the area well. However, he did know Hookena because that’s where his sister-in-law’s family is from.
Three character witnesses also took the stand on Marlon Miranda-Garcia’s behalf. There was a common theme among them. The 25-year-old was respectful and quiet.
“I’ve never seen him in a bad temper,” said Maura Rodriguez, whose son and husband are friends of Marlon’s. “He’s very friendly.”
Himer’s girlfriend also took the stand.
“Marlon is a nice, patient, caring person,” she said. “He’s an awesome brother, uncle and friend. I’ve known Marlon for three years and I’ve never seen him upset.”
More details about Lolo were also unearthed Friday.
DeWeese’s first witness, Nathan H. Ohler, used to work with the decedent at the coffee company, Mountain Thunder.
“Lolo is famous at Mountain Thunder,” Ohler testified. “He did everything at the business.”
Ohler is the last known person to see Lolo alive on Aug. 8, 2015. He told the court they were together at the bystation, which was located on Lolo’s property. The bystation was a place for them to buy cherry from the local farmers. He told the court it was something the two of them typically did together.
On that particularly Saturday, Ohler testified that he had never seen Lolo look the way he did that day.
“His eyes were blood shot. It looked like he hadn’t slept a wink and he seemed depressed,” Ohler stated.
Ohler also noted that Lolo smoked two cigarettes. “I’d never seen him smoke before.”
Ohler testified that 100 percent of the farmers were upset with Mountain Thunder because the company owed them money. Lolo was also owed money.
Ohler also testified that around that same time, he observed Lolo stringing barbed wire at knee height across the parking lot by the bystation.
“From my observation, it was crazy,” Ohler stated. “I told him to immediately stop.”
Ohler testified that the barbed wire was to keep his neighbors below him from parking in the parking lot.
During cross-examination, Terri Fujioka-Lilley, counsel for Eber Miranda-Garcia, asked Ohler to describe Lolo’s demeanor on Aug. 8, 2015.
“He looked like a man facing a firing squad,” he stated.
Court proceedings will pick up Tuesday where the prosecution will continue its cross-examination of Marlon Miranda-Garcia.
Once DeWeese rests her case, Fujioka-Lilley will present her case for Eber Miranda-Garcia. Closing arguments are expected to occur Thursday.