The murder of Toshio Kawano
Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii · 1977
Overview
Toshio Kawano, 58, and his wife ran the Moiliili Bakery, a small liquor and sundries store on South King Street in Honolulu that had kept the name of the bakery it once was. On the evening of September 26, 1977, he was tending the store alone when he was shot in a gunfight with two would-be robbers. He wore a gun in a holster, against his wife's wishes, because of earlier robberies, and he died at Queen's Medical Center a few hours later. There were no eyewitnesses and, the Star-Bulletin reported, police had no suspects and could not find any witnesses. In 2000, in a plea agreement over an unrelated purse snatching, Aaron Meyer told authorities about his part in the shooting, and later that year Melvin Kumukau also made a statement. In August 2001 Honolulu police told the family they were pursuing charges against two suspects. The state attorney general's Cold Case Unit, created in 2004, took the case, and an Oahu grand jury indicted both men for murder on December 14, 2006. In January 2009 each pleaded guilty to manslaughter and first-degree robbery and received a 20-year term. The state said the men went to the shop to rob Kawano of his collection of samurai swords. His family said they had closure, although neither man was convicted of murder.
How it was solved
The case was broken by a man who had been there. For twenty-three years there were no eyewitnesses; the Star-Bulletin reported that police had no suspects and could not find any witnesses. In 2000, Aaron Meyer, who was 17 on the night of the shooting, accepted a ten-year sentence in a plea agreement with the state for an unrelated purse snatching. The Star-Bulletin reported in 2009 that this was when he told authorities of his role in the 1977 case. Later that year, the state said, Melvin Kumukau, who had been 21, also made a statement to authorities about his role. Neither man was publicly named at the time. In August 2001 the Star-Bulletin reported that Honolulu police had told Kawano's family they were pursuing charges against two suspects identified from information provided by a witness who had stepped forward the year before, and that both suspects were already in prison on unrelated convictions. No charges followed for five more years. In 2004 the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General created a Cold Case Unit and adopted the case. State sheriffs arrested Kumukau on December 13, 2006, and an Oahu grand jury indicted him and Meyer for murder the next day; the attorney general declined to say what had led investigators to the two men. With the trial about to begin in January 2009, the state instead filed lesser charges. Kumukau pleaded guilty to manslaughter and first-degree robbery on January 7, 2009, and Meyer did the same on January 15. Deputy Attorney General Christopher Young said the pair intended to rob Kawano of a collection of samurai swords and that Kawano defended himself with his own firearm. Each was sentenced by Judge Virginia Crandall to 20 years.
Sources
- Witness provides clue to '77 bakery killing (August 10, 2001)
“Honolulu police told family members they are pursuing charges against two suspects who were identified, thanks to information provided by a witness who stepped forward last year.”
- Two Men Charged With 1977 Moiliili Murder (December 16, 2006)
“In a 1977 newspaper article, murder victim Toshio Kawano is described as the last samurai.”
- 2 career criminals face trial in 1977 killing of store owner (December 16, 2006)
“With no eyewitnesses to the murder, the case languished. But in 2001 Honolulu police told Kawano's family that they were pursuing charges against two suspects who were identified from information provided by a witness who had stepped forward the year before.”
- Guilty plea expected in 1977 slaying (January 7, 2009)
“The case remained unsolved for nearly 30 years. Police had no suspects and could not find any witnesses.”
- 1977 Moiliili murder case resolved; shooter, 52, gets 20 years in prison (January 7, 2009)
“Kumukau and Meyer intended to rob Toshio Kawano of a collection of samurai swords he kept in his bakery, but the victim defended himself with his own firearm, Young said.”
- Oahu man pleads guilty and receives sentence in cold case, News Release 2009-01 (January 7, 2009)
“In 2004, the case was adopted for further investigation by the Cold Case Unit of the Department of the Attorney General. On December 14, 2006, the department obtained murder indictments against Kumukau and co-defendant Aaron Meyer, 49.”
- 31-year-old murder case ends with sentencings (January 16, 2009)
“In 2000, Meyer accepted a 10-year prison sentence in a plea agreement with the state for a purse snatching. That was when he told authorities of his role in the 1977 case.”
- Second Oahu man pleads guilty in cold case (January 19, 2009)
“Pursuant to a plea agreement, Meyer pled guilty to the charges of Manslaughter and Robbery in the first Degree, and was sentenced immediately by Judge Virginia Crandall to an indeterminate ten-year prison term for Manslaughter and an indeterminate twenty-year prison term for Robbery in the First Degree.”