Trial set for man in killing uncle in his Pearl City home
HPD
Thomas Arakaki
A trial date has been set for a man accused of killing his 53-year-old uncle in Pearl City.
Thomas K. Arakaki, 31, appeared before Circuit Court Judge Colette Garibaldi via closed-circuit video link from the Oahu Community Correctional Center Tuesday. A grand jury had returned an indictment charging him with second-degree murder in the death of Stanley Yamada, ramp chief at Hawaiian Airlines.
Deputy Public Defender Lee Hayakawa entered a not guilty plea to the murder charge. Garibaldi confirmed Arakaki’s bail at $200,000 and set his trial for January.
Police found Yamada’s body in a bedroom of his Hoohonua Street home on the night of Oct. 30 after Yamada’s girlfriend called 911 and notified police she had not heard from him since the night before and that he didn’t show up to work that day.
Officers arrested Arakaki, who was in the same bedroom where Yamada’s body was discovered on the floor covered with blankets.
At the time of his arrest, police said Arakaki told officers he punched Yamada and “finished him off with a bat.” He claimed he had to kill Yamada because he was going to grab a gun and shoot him.
Yamada died of blunt force injuries to his head and torso.
Court records show Arakaki had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
He was committed to the Hawaii State Hospital in 2017 for several months after prosecutors charged him with carrying a deadly weapon.
In April of that year, Arakaki was caught by police smoking marijuana at Aala Park, and after officers placed him under arrest they discovered brass knuckles in his pants pocket. Court records said he was homeless and living in his car at the time, but would shower at his grandmother and uncle’s house in Pearl City.
A month later he was committed to the state hospital where he at times was observed agitated, screaming, slapping himself and hallucinating, according to court records. He was treated with antipsychotic medication, and discharged in January after Judge Clarence Pacarro dismissed a deadly weapon charge and ruled Arakaki was unfit to proceed in the case.
