Trial is set for a 32-year-old homeless man accused of stabbing a married couple last month in a Hilo park.
Trial is set for a 32-year-old homeless man accused of stabbing a married couple last month in a Hilo park.
Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara on Thursday ordered David Lester Bars to appear for trial at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 16.
Bars is charged with attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault for allegedly stabbing 27-year-old Myreon Nau-Fikes and 24-year-old Anastasha Nau-Fikes, both of Pahoa, in the early morning hours of June 20 at Wailoa State Recreation Area.
Bars, who is in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $260,000 bail, pleaded not guilty to both charges. In a subdued voice, he answered a set of standard arraignment questions from Hara either “yes, sir” or “no, sir.”
According to court documents, Anastasha Nau-Fikes told police she saw a man she knew as “David” strike her husband, and “a tussle ensued.”
The woman reportedly told officers she felt a burning sensation in her lower right leg and realized she was cut and bleeding. She also said she saw her husband bleeding from the front of his neck, and he told her he had been stabbed and could not breathe, according to documents.
Anastasha Nau-Fikes said the suspect fled on foot toward the entrance of the park and was “holding a 4-5 inch throwing knife in his left hand,” documents state.
Responding officers spotted Bars on Piilani Street near the park entrance and arrested him a short time later.
Documents state Bars, who identified himself as David, was covered in blood.
Myreon Nau-Fikes was taken to Hilo Medical Center in serious condition. He underwent emergency surgery for a puncture wound to his neck and since was released.
If convicted of attempted murder, Bars faces a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole. Second-degree assault is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.