Saturday, September 11, 2010

Musings: Whatever Happened

The eastern sky was shot through with red when Koko and I went walking this warm morning. The world was softened by an abundance of moisture in the air, which caused the Giant to appear hazy and the pastures to glow beneath a yellowish light.

As we walked, Waialeale slowly sloughed off her white mantle, even as a bank of gray clouds edged in from the east, threatening rain that it only now delivered. As is typical for a weekend morning, a truck filled with dogs passed us enroute to the hunting area and Koko danced and spun on the end of her leash.

“You must still be on vacation,” said my neighbor Andy when we encountered him on the road, and I admitted I was, and had fallen into the habit of staying up late and rising late — that is, if 6:25 a.m. can be considered “late.”

It’s been great having both paid time off — something I haven’t experienced since I quit my job at the Star-Bulletin 13 years ago — and a visit from one of my sisters. No one from my family has been out to see me in more than a decade, as they all seem to believe it’s easier for me to make the long slog across the Pacific than them. So when I took her to the airport yesterday, I was sad to see her go.

It was interesting to hear my sister’s take on the island, which she thought looked generally down on its heels, especially Lihue, and inhabited by a lot of “aging hippie types.” As we sat on the beach at Hanalei Bay, with the St. Regis spilling down the cliffside and lavish vacation rentals lining the sand, she pronounced the area “pretty ritzy,” and I couldn’t help but feel sad as I recalled the line from the Shilo Pa song: “Whatever happened to Hanalei?”

There's been some discussion — including a post by Andy Parx yesterday— about whatever happened to Wally Wilson, the convicted rapist who was a suspect in the Westside serial killings of a decade ago. An email has been circulating with the subject line “Women on Kauai be careful...” that forwards the contents of an email reportedly sent out by the wife of Gary Heu, the mayor’s administrative assistant:

Remember those 2 murders and one almost murder on the westside a while back? Gary told me this evening that the guy that KPD thought did them but could not prove that did them is out of jail and apparently back on island - his name is Waldorf Wilson and if you search Sex Offenders in Hawaii you will find a picture of him. Apparently he rides a bike - targets middle-aged caucasian women and is currently thought to be living in Puhi. Look up his picture. Keep an eye out for him. Don't go camping alone on secluded beaches. He attacked one woman that was gardening in her yard I think. Not trying to be paranoid but Gary thought it was important enough to tell me tonight to 'be careful'......just sayin'.

When I followed up on that email I was told that the police are still trying to confirm if Wilson is indeed on island, and if he is, he’ll be required to register with authorities and the sex offender website will be updated accordingly.

That’s all well and good — if you believe the sex offender registry is an effective way of keeping track of sex offenders. According to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center website:

Unless the covered offender is incarcerated or has registered with a designated law enforcement agency after establishing residence in another state, every January, April, July, and October, the Department of Attorney General mails a non-forwardable verification form to the last reported address of the covered offender. The covered offender shall sign the verification form and state that he/she still resides at the last reported address and that no other registration information has changed or shall provide the new information. The covered offender shall mail the signed and completed verification form to the Attorney General within ten days after receipt of the form.

Beginning July 1, 2009, each covered offender shall report in-person every year, within the thirty-day period following the offender's date of birth, to the chief of police where the covered offender resides and shall review the existing information in the registry, correct any information that has changed or is inaccurate, provide any new information that may be required, and allow the police to take a current photograph.


But one has to wonder just how aggressively the authorities follow up if sex offenders fail to report in or return their verification forms. My late friend Carl Nishiie remained on the registry for more than two years after his death, with his record bearing the disclaimer that the state could not vouch for the accuracy of the entry because “the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center has not received a required up-to-date periodic verification of registration information from this offender."

If they can’t even keep track of the dead guys, who don't move around much, well, it does kinda make you wonder…. Just like the recent unsolved deaths of two middle-aged Caucasian women, whose bodies were found in remote areas on the eastside.....

(This post was updated on Sept. 29.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that our prosecutor spent the weekend finding out if this guy registered his change of address and that, if not, she has drawn up an arrest warrant for his failing to do so.

Anonymous said...

This is to Chief Perry:

One of the questions the public needs answered now is when Wally Wilson arrived on Kauai of this year.
If, according to the registry, he did not ʻcheck inʻ, then your detectives must have requested this information from the airlines in the name of public safety.
There are penalties for failure to register.
When Becky Thompson, Kauaiʻs most recent suspicious death fitting the characteristics, was first reported missing and a week later her car located .... this should have been a RED FLAG for KPD not to buffalo a possible crime scene.
Did KPD follow protocols?
We want some answers, Chief Perry and you are purportedly there to protect the public. We are not feeling safe for our wives, daughters and women residing and visiting here. Your job goes beyond spending hours and hours of tax dollars justifying tazor uses.

A public statement is in order. Now.

This is directed to the Prosecutorʻs Office as well.

I think that a public alert especially to the visitor industry is needed since KPD and OPA are not fulfilling the publicʻs need to know.

Itʻs time to stop protecting this character. And how dare you in the first place.

Kauai takes care of its own and works in surprising ways.

Anonymous said...

"...inhabited by a lot of “aging hippie types.” As we sat on the beach at Hanalei Bay, with the St. Regis spilling down the cliffside and lavish vacation rentals lining the sand, she pronounced the area 'pretty ritzy,'..."

Fascinating. What made (inspired?) you to grow so diverse from your sister (s?)?

Anonymous said...

Don't you think most siblings are totally different from each other? As both a sister and a mother, my children are diverse in their thoughts and actions, and as a sister, my other sibs are as opposite as can be from each other and me.
Hanalei, is indeed in danger from being commercialized, overcommercialized. Hanalei used to be the place for local families to play, just like the beach park in Haena, now overrun with tourists.
Why can't we plan right, why can't there be places that don't get commercialized? What happened to community, our common unity? No place for us.

Anonymous said...

Ladies and gentlemen, it is an election year. Use your voting power to demand these murders be solved. It is time for us to come together before another middle aged white woman is murdered on our island and forgotten about.

Anonymous said...

Agreed.
How do we do that?
It is obvious from the lack of comments on this subject that there are a lot of chicken shits on this island.

Anonymous said...

The Chief Of Police will lie and misinform the people of Kauai just like the prosecutors attorneys, and many other incompetent good ol boyz cock suckers. Boycott Garden Island Times until they hire real reporters and report real Kauai News. This guy is the brother of a former dirty Kauai cop, who now works as a dirty DLNR rent a corrupt cop. Wake Up Kauai even the Kagawa murder was a cover up. The neighbor who seen the whole thing is too scared to tell what she seen. A man beating Lauren up, because KPD dirty cops probably threatened her.

Anonymous said...

Can someone factually state that this man "is" acutally in Puhi? If this is proven as false, then there should be a public apology from Parx for his website missleading the public by false reporting. Also, if this person whomever he/she is that "saw" this person riding a bike in puhi, why didn't this person notify authorities and make a formal complaint if a crime has been committed? The thing about Kauai, is that it is so easy to generate a rumor and watch it snowball into a huge cluster of false allegations. Where are the facts? Facts are something that can be "proven" and opinions cannot be proven. Currently what I read in Parx's web...none is "proven facts" and thus far its all a mere allegation of heresay. Thus, this case is nothing but slander and libel of peoples character. Parx, is all i am trying to say, is how factual is your report? Can u prove this guy was even on Kauai before making allegations public record? And if the police is not saying that this guy "is" the west side serial killer, under what authority do you tag his as the west side serial killer?

Connie said...

Since Kauai's main industry is tourism, it seems important to insure the safety of tourists, esp middle aged women like myself who wish to visit w/o a male bodyguard. Surely it cannot require such advanced police techniques to find out whether Mr. Wilson is indeed on the island and to put him under surveillance.
Connie

Anonymous said...

Any one seen Wally Wilson on his bicycle lately?
Where was he riding?

Anonymous said...

@Joan Conrow.

Joan, since your publication of this story, have you made any attempts with KPD to verify if this person was ever on Kauai this year? Have you made any follow ups with the KPD to attest to your story of his being on Kauai this year? It would be nice to know the end result. It shouldn't take that long for authorities to figure out his where abouts. A check with the airlines and TSA should be quick and easy on ticketing purchases right? So, where's the result? A professional reporter making such a story like this should find the answers the public so desires after getting the public all rallied up. Was he on Kauai in the year 2010 or not?

Joan Conrow said...

I'm working on it, and when I have some information to share,you can be assured that I will.

Anonymous said...

Although I'm living off-island, I've been following this story. I heard from a solid local source that Wally Wilson is living in Kapahi, right now.

Anonymous said...

@ Joan Conrow

No updates yet on the guy's whereabout ?

Anonymous said...

I think the County spokes person or Mayor or Gary Heu or Police Chief should come foward and speak up and let the public know if Wally was or was not on the island of this year 2010. The public did not get any response yet and so deserves a response since the email that was generated originated from the County.Is this a closed door session again?

Joan Conrow said...

I provided an update on this yesterday, from the chief of police.

Also, the email was not generated by the county. And as I noted in the update, Wilson is not legally prohibited from traveling to Kauai.