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HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
Kawena Krause
HILO >> A man has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in a 2012 murder in Puna.
Kawena Krause pleaded no contest to second-degree murder for the killing of Dante Peter Gilman.
Krause’s attorney, Christopher Bridges, told the judge his client is remorseful but didn’t act deliberately. Bridges said Krause was tricked by his cousin into going to Gilman’s home in Hawaiian Acres. He said the cousin hit Gilman in the face with a gun and forced Krause to “silence” him. That’s when Krause choked Gilman.
At his sentencing Tuesday, Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara challenged Krause to hold his breath for a minute, Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported. Hara noted Krause choked Gilman for more than two minutes.
“That’s the period of time that you basically prevented Mr. Gilman from either receiving blood to his brain or air to his lungs,” Hara said. “And if you don’t believe it’s a long time, one of these days — and you’ll have enough time to do it — you sit down and see how long you can hold your breath.”
Krause declined to address the court.
Bridges described him as a special education student with a third-grade reading level. “He was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time,” Bridges said.
His cousin, Claude Keone Krause, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, also for second-degree murder.
Deputy Prosecutor Jack Matsukawa said the killing was done in greed because the cousins went to the home to rob Gilman.
Gilman, a one-time competition surfer, was the son of the late Peter Gilman, a Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter in the 1950s and author of the novel, “Diamond Head,” which was made into a 1963 film starring Charlton Heston.
