A 42-year-old Pahoa woman accused of killing her significant other during a domestic dispute late Thursday night strangled him with the driver’s side seatbelt of a 2013 Honda Fit, according to court documents filed by police.
Officers responding to the domestic disturbance found the victim, 45-year-old Patrick Gideon John-Bruce Dalrymple-Collins of Pahoa, with his feet on the driver’s side floorboard of the white subcompact sedan with his head and torso on the ground outside the open driver’s side door, documents state.
Dalrymple-Collins, according to police, was unconscious and unresponsive. His neck was reportedly red, his face was bruised and had turned blue, and blood was seeping out his right ear.
Police reported the driver’s side seatbelt was fully extended, hanging outside the car and touching the ground.
While on the scene, officers learned McConnell had called 911 and told dispatch she had strangled Dalrymple-Collins with a seatbelt after he attacked her with a knife. She also reportedly told dispatch, “I came back and he’s dead. I need someone to deal with his dead body.”
Police say officers immediately administered Narcan, to no avail. They then attempted the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). Hawaii Fire Department personnel took over life-saving measures upon arrival, but Dalrymple-Collins was pronounced dead at 11:57 p.m., while in an ambulance en route to Hilo Benioff Medical Center.
McConnell was arrested at the scene. Police said she was found in possession of a zip-packet with methamphetamine. The gross weight of the drug and the bag was 1.4 grams, documents state.
One officer reported that while they were awaiting a transport vehicle for McConnell, she made statements such as “I had to defend my life because he was attacking me” and “he was holding like a billy club and I was afraid he was going to hit me with it.”
Officers noted multiple red stains on McConnell’s pants and shirt that appeared to be blood, according to documents. But officers found no visible injuries or defensive wounds on McConnell’s face, hands or extremities when they arrested her, documents state.
A search warrant was obtained for the car, and no blunt objects were found inside. A knife, however, was discovered on the passenger side of the car, according to documents, and a small spot that appeared to be blood was found near the driver’s side door frame, where Dalrymple-Collins’ head had been.
An autopsy was performed on Friday morning. The forensic pathologist ruled Dalrymple-Collins died of homicide due to strangulation.
McConnell was charged Saturday with second-degree murder and methamphetamine possession.
She made her initial appearance Monday in Hilo District Court, where Judge Jeffrey Hawk maintained her bail at $1.505 million and ordered her to return at 2 p.m. Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
McConnell remains in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, upon conviction. County Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen said Monday his office has provided notice to the Judiciary that if McConnell is convicted as charged, prosecutors could seek an extended term of imprisonment, which would be life without the possibility of parole.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
