Trial for a former Hilo mortician accused of a brutal hammer attack on a downtown Hilo coin and antique merchant has been postponed until next year.
Trial for a former Hilo mortician accused of a brutal hammer attack on a downtown Hilo coin and antique merchant has been postponed until next year.
On Wednesday, Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura granted a defense motion and rescheduled the trial of Robert Diego to April 15 at 9 a.m. Jury selection was to have started on Monday.
Diego, 69, is charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and first-degree robbery for the alleged attack on Hilo coin and antique dealer Don Nigro, then 65, on June 13, 2011, in Nigro’s Hilo apartment.
Diego’s court-appointed attorney, William Heflin, told the judge he also intends to ask for a delay in a separate attempted-murder-for-hire trial scheduled for Nov. 19 before Nakamura.
Diego is also charged with two counts each of attempted first-degree murder and criminal solicitation of first-degree murder for allegedly twice trying to hire a hit man to finish the job on Nigro. According to the indictment, the solicitations allegedly took place on June 16 and Aug. 10, 2011, while Diego was incarcerated at HCCC.
Asked if the state plans to request that all the charges be consolidated into one trial, Deputy Prosecutor Darien Nagata replied a motion of that nature would be “premature.”
Diego is being held without bail at HCCC.