Woman found in Waikiki dumpster killed by asphyxiation
A woman whose body was found in a Waikiki trash bin last week died of asphyxiation and was the victim of a homicide, a city medical examiner said Friday morning.
Dr. Masahiko Kobayashi, deputy medical examiner, said that 51-year-old Janine U. Meyer died of asphyxiation due to various causes.
Honolulu police, meanwhile, are still holding a man at Honolulu Police Department headquarters in connection with Meyer’s death.
Joseph M. Kahawai, 42, has been in police custody and appeared in court on a separate case Thursday before being arrested on suspicion of murder in the afternoon, police said.
Meyer’s body was found on the morning of Oct. 29 in a trash bin near the Hawaiian Colony apartments off Ala Moana Boulevard.
Police originally classified the incident as an unattended death but reclassified the case to a murder investigation Thursday.
HPD has not explained what led them to reclassify the case or suspect Kahawai.
Kahawai was in Honolulu District Court on Monday in connection with a terroristic threatening case involving someone else.
According to a court filing, on Oct. 20, Kahawai threatened bodily harm to another man. He was arrested at a Waipahu address Monday afternoon and subsequently charged with second-degree terroristic threatening in that case.