Ex-OCCC officer in murder, kidnapping case called ‘emotional’
Police officers’ testimony Tuesday provided clues as to what was on the mind of a then 44-year-old Oahu Community Correctional Center training officer after he allegedly fatally shot his 66-year-old mother eight years ago in his Maili home.
“He was apologetic, saying, ‘I’m sorry. I want to see my daughter. I just want to see my daughter,’” said Honolulu police officer Elmer Dulatre, the first on-scene.
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A jury-waived trial began Tuesday for the now 52-year-old Anthony F. Pereira II before Circuit Judge Rowena Somerville, who will decide whether he is guilty of second-degree murder, kidnapping and first-degree terroristic threatening, along with firearm and drug charges.
Pereira, who wore wire-rimmed glasses, was dressed in a white, short-sleeved collared shirt, light brown pants, white shoes and ankle shackles.
Pereira’s mother, Barbara Pereira, went to his home across from Maili Beach Park at 87-436 Farrington Highway, where he allegedly had been holding captive for three days a 48-year-old woman he just met, named Dodie Guzman, court records show.
Guzman managed to flee the home and showed up in Anthony Pereira’s truck with one flat tire at the Waianae Police Station on June 10, 2016.
Deputy Prosecutor Molly O’Neill first called police officer Jonathan Nobriga to the stand. He testified that Guzman was breathing heavily, was frantic and beginning to shake when she arrived.
Nobriga said the few words Guzman got out were, “He shot her and he’s coming for me.”
At about the same time, he heard a call over the police radio for gunshots fired and instantly thought they might be connected.
Guzman told Nobriga the man who shot “her” (Barbara Pereira) was Anthony Pereira and that he lived across from Maili Beach Park. Emergency Medical Services took her to Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, where she was still shaking. “She couldn’t even hold a pen,” Nobriga said.
Neighbor Myrna Peralta testified she heard a “pop, pop, pop” that sounded like fireworks coming from Pereira’s house next door. But when she heard a woman crying, she thought they may have been gunshots, and had her daughter call police.
Dulatre arrived at 3:35 p.m. after getting the 3:32 p.m. call June 10, 2016, and initially heard voices from the closed garage and peered through the open side door to the garage.
He found Pereira sitting on the garage floor, armed with an AR-15-style rifle, and the body of Barbara Pereira on the floor nearby.
He was emotional, agitated, screaming, yelling, Dulatre said.
When Pereira raised a rifle, Dulatre said he took cover behind a wall and asked him to put the gun down and “everything will be OK. I’m here to help you.”
Pereira put it down on his lap, continued talking, then raised it again. He then started convulsing, flailing on the ground, so officers secured the weapons, then rendered aid.
During cross-examination Kiehm asked Dulatre whether Pereira was crying. Dulatre said, “He was emotional. … Initially, he looked like he was crying and emotional.”
