Filo Tu was in disbelief Saturday after police arrested his nephew in connection with the fatal stabbing of a family member in Pacific Palisades.
"My family is having a very hard time coping with this because both of the guys are so nice people," Tu said by phone. "We cannot believe it."
Police said officers were dispatched at 4:56 a.m. Saturday to a stabbing and found a 36-year-old man unresponsive with stab wounds. The victim was taken to the hospital, where he died.
The 19-year-old suspect was arrested at his Aumakua Street home at 6:25 a.m. on suspicion of second-degree murder, police records show.
Tu said the victim, Frank Kapesi, his adopted brother, had problems with alcohol. He said something was bound to happen because Kapesi often picked on his nephew, who was arrested.
The nephew is not being named because he had not been charged as of Saturday afternoon.
"We love (Kapesi) very much," Tu said. "It’s just one of those unfortunate things that happen."
While Tu considered Kapesi his adopted brother, he was actually Tu’s brother’s son. Tu’s father adopted Kapesi and brought him to Hawaii from American Samoa.
"He’s one of those people that when they’re sober, one of the nicest person you will ever want to meet," Tu said. "The only problem, when he drank, he becomes a different person."
Tu, who lives in Honolulu but owns the home where the stabbing occurred, said Kapesi lived there with two brothers and his nephew.
Tu wasn’t present at the time of the stabbing and didn’t know what Kapesi and his nephew — his sister’s son — were arguing about.
Tu, a business owner, described his nephew as a quiet man who would help with chores when he visited Tu in Honolulu and would help Tu’s wife with her wheelchair when she had doctor’s appointments.
"It’s such a loss to our family," Tu said.
Frank Besas, who lives on Aumakua Street, described Kapesi as a nice and quiet guy.
"He didn’t bother anybody," he said. But the house, he said, was known for drinking and fights.
"I knew already, sooner or later something was going to happen," Besas said.
Tristyn Besas, Besas’ daughter, witnessed several violent fights between Kapesi’s family members.
She recalled people fighting with broomsticks and other weapons and a microwave being thrown into the street.
Jeanne Besas, Frank Besas’ sister, heard loud yelling at about 4 a.m. and looked out her window and could see into Kapesi’s home through the sliding glass door.
She saw two men inside Kapesi’s home pummeling and cursing someone, whom she could not see, on the ground.
"I seen two guys that were beating up on him," Jeanne Besas said. "I could see clearly."
She said the assailants took turns beating on the victim for about 15 minutes. She didn’t realize the severity of the incident until she saw paramedics doing CPR on the victim.
"It’s scary," she said. "I should have called 911 right away."
