Man sentenced to 20 years in woman’s death

Zachary Robinson blames his drug addiction for the "terrible mistakes" he has made in his life.

Those mistakes include fatally beating an 85-year-old woman in her Wai­alae Nui home and viciously attacking her live-in caregiver on Jan. 21, 2010. At the time, Robinson was wanted on a $25,000 arrest warrant for missing a Jan. 4, 2010, court hearing involving a burglary.

On Monday state Circuit Judge Richard Pollack told Robinson his crimes were horrific and heartless. He sentenced the 21-year-old Robinson to 30 years in prison: 20 years for the manslaughter death of Mary Lee Koskinen and 10 years for the assault on Matthew Edmondson, 40, Koskinen’s caregiver.

Koskinen died two weeks after the attack by Robinson and co-defendant Cody Mikami, 23.

Robinson apologized Monday in court.

"I would like to seek help for my drug addiction and also would like to help young men like myself so they don’t end up making the same mistakes I did," he said.

Pollack last week sentenced Mikami to 25 years in prison: 20 years for Koskinen’s manslaughter death and five years for the assault on Edmondson.

Prosecutor L. Adrian Dhakhwa said Edmondson suffered fractures of his eye sockets, fractures of his jaw on both sides of his face and now lives with metal plates in his head from those and other injuries.

He said the attacks on Koskinen and Edmondson were the result of a botched robbery.

Dhakhwa said Robinson admitted he planned to rob Edmondson, someone he already knew, and brought along Mikami. He said there were no signs of forced entry at the home, and it appears the three men drank beer and partied together before Robinson and Mikami attempted to rob Edmondson. Koskinen overheard what was going on and interrupted the robbery.

"At that point the plan changed to shut (Koskinen) up. And that resulted in her getting beaten to death," Dhakhwa said.

Robinson and Mikami were charged with second-degree murder and attempted first- and second-degree murder. Robinson pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault last year and agreed to testify against Mikami in a plea deal with the prosecutor.

Pollack told Robinson his guilty pleas and agreement to cooperate are probably what persuaded Mikami to also plead guilty in February to manslaughter and assault.