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Man, 72, gets 20 years for killing neighbor

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  • CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
    Melvin Yoshida, 72, convicted of murdering his neighbor Clare Silva on Easter Sunday two years ago, broke down several times during his sentencing yesterday.
  • CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
    Tyffny Riordan, daughter of murder victim Clare Silva, wiped away tears yesterday as she sat in the courtroom during Melvin Yoshida’s sentencing. “I don’t think there’s anything he could say that would make me feel better about what he did,” she said.

A 72-year-old Punchbowl man who fatally shot a neighbor who rejected his advances was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison.

Melvin Yoshida was charged with second-degree murder for the death of Clare Silva, 54, on Easter Sunday two years ago. Under a plea agreement the state agreed to reduce the charge to manslaughter, requiring that Yoshida serve 20 years. Yoshida pleaded guilty last year to the manslaughter charge and to using a firearm in the killing.

Yoshida, who has a history of depression, suffered from emotional distress after his wife of 33 years, Claire Yoshida, died in February 2008 after a long illness, said his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Darcia Forester. He stopped taking his medication after her death, becoming severely depressed and lonely.

He then became friends with Silva, who lived in the same building at Punchbowl Homes public housing and whose first name was similar to his late wife’s. “She made him feel good. She was very charming. She brought joy and happiness back into his life. He felt happy around her,” Forester said during sentencing yesterday. Yoshida wanted Silva to be his girlfriend. He bought her gifts like DVDs and dresses. “In his mind they were dating,” she said.

“Melvin declared his love for her, but she told him she just wanted to be friends,” Forester said. He spiraled into a deep depression and wrote a suicide note.

At about 11:02 a.m. April 12, he walked out of Punchbowl Homes, planning to shoot himself in front of the housing complex, when he saw Silva’s car in the parking lot.

He went to Silva’s first-floor apartment in hopes that she could console him, Forester said. Their conversation erupted into an argument.

Yoshida then took out his gun and shot Silva.

“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision that he will regret for the rest of his life,” she said.

Yoshida broke down in tears as he attempted to read an apology to Silva’s family, saying he loved her very much. Forester read the apology on behalf of Yoshida, who wrote, “I humbly apologize to the family and friends of Silva (for) what I had done and wished it never had happened.”

Silva’s daughter, Tyffny Riordan, wiped away tears as she sat in the courtroom, where she was comforted by her husband, Brian.

Outside the courtroom, Rior­dan said, “I don’t think there’s anything he could say that would make me feel better about what he did, whether it was emotional distress or what. My mom was there as a friend, and the fact that he thought there was more there, that was in his own head. But you still don’t take a life because of that.”

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