By JOHN BURNETT
By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Trial has been set for a murder suspect and there was movement Tuesday in another murder case and a third case of attempted murder.
Claude Keone Krause, 30, of Kurtistown pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, second-degree theft and use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara ordered Krause to appear a jury trial for trial on May 20 at 8:30 a.m. Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Malate estimated the trial would take “three to four weeks.”
Police say Krause shot 44-year-old Dante Peter Gilman on Dec. 28 at Gilman’s Hawaiian Acres home, and Krause’s 19-year-old cousin, Kawena K. Krause, then choked the man. According to court documents, a home video surveillance system recorded the homicide.
Gilman’s body was found on Jan. 22 off Stainback Highway in Hilo.
The younger Krause has requested a mental examination. A hearing on the examiners’ reports is scheduled for Feb. 26 in Hilo District Court.
Both Krauses are being held without bail at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
In an unrelated case, Hara ordered 23-year-old Malaki McBride to return to court on Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. to set a date for a new murder trial.
McBride’s conviction for the Feb. 25, 2007 shotgun slaying of 21-year-old Tyrone Torres was overturned by the state Intermediate Court of Appeals. The appellate court ruled that Hara’s oral instructions to the jury on the extreme mental or emotional disturbance (EMED) defense differed from the agreed-upon written instructions. The opinion stated that the judge’s “erroneous reading of the EMED instruction not only rendered the instruction wrong on the law, but also utterly confusing and misleading.”
McBride was sentenced to life plus 20 years in 2010 for the homicide, which occurred in Nanawale Estates. McBride was 17 when the shooting occurred, but he was tried as an adult on charges of second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and auto theft.
Hara granted the motion of Oahu attorney Cynthia Kagiwada, who handled McBride’s appeal, to withdraw from the case, so a new defense counsel will be appointed before trial goes forward.
McBride appeared in court in custody, as the firearms and auto theft convictions were not overturned and he is serving his sentence on those charges.
In the third case, also unrelated, a hearing on a mental examination for a 73-year-old Hawaiian Beaches man accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend four times on Mother’s Day last year has been delayed.
The court has received two of three reports requested on Joseph Amormino Sr., who is accused of the May 13 shooting of 56-year-old June Shirshac, a greeter at the Hilo Walmart store, at her Panaewa home. Amormino is also accused of attempting to shoot Shirshac’s former husband, Francis Makaiwi.
Hara re-scheduled the hearing for March 14 at 8 a.m. so the third report can be completed.
Amormino, a retired Hawaii Community Correctional Center guard, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, burglary, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, three other firearms offenses and three counts of terroristic threatening.
He remains in custody in HCCC, where he once worked, unable to post $656,000 bail.
Shirshac sustained gunshot wounds to her left shoulder, left knee, right thigh and right hand. She is recovering from her injuries, according to a family member.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.