Reason for Kauai attacker’s release a mystery

One day after Shendon Chandler-Taniguchi was released from the psychiatric ward of a Kauai hospital in 2011, he went on a deadly rampage in a quiet Waimea Valley neighborhood — using a large knife to stab his grandfather, fatally injure a neighbor and wound two others before police ended the attacks by shooting him to death.

His family and the injured survivors have been trying ever since to find out why a Family Court judge released the 21-year-old, who had been taken from the home on Menehune Road and committed for treatment after police were called for assistance just 10 days before.

Autopsy results showed that when Chandler-Taniguchi died he had lower than prescription levels of bupropion and hydroxybupropion for treatment of depression in his system — indicating he hadn’t recently taken his medication.

What remains unknown is what his condition was and why he was released from the Kauai hospital on Dec. 1, 2011 — a day before his attacks on the four people.

The attacks ended the life of 68-year-old Edita Padamada, and injured Chandler-Taniguchi’s grandfather, Anthony Chandler, 83, and neighbors James Rick and Julie Bergseid. Police have said there were no known motives for the attacks, and it appeared the victims were randomly selected.

Chandler-Taniguchi had no record of alcohol or drug abuse or arrest as an adult, police said.

In their first official statements, mostly recently Jan. 22, relatives of Chandler-Taniguchi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: "(We) were not called and did not participate in a Family Court hearing on Dec. 1, 2011, that resulted in his release from psychiatric care at a hospital and … (we) don’t know why Family Court released him when he needed long-term care."

Without specifically addressing the Chandler-Taniguchi case, Judiciary spokeswoman Marsha Kitagawa said, "Generally, if a case is open and the family asks authorities to notify them of a change in status, then the family members would be notified by those authorities."

The Kauai Police Department and Kauai Family Court have denied the family and the injured survivors access to any information or transcripts from Chandler-Taniguchi’s commitment hearing, giving a variety of reasons, including state and federal laws to protect the confidentiality of patients, the families and victims.

Similarly, Family Court has denied the Star-Advertiser’s request for a transcript of the court hearing, and the Kauai Police Department said it will not divulge medical information about Chandler-Taniguchi.

"It is the opinion of our legal counsel that … it would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy to provide the information," Kauai police spokeswoman Sarah Blane told the Star-Advertiser.

Records of the court hearing were released to Kauai police after the department filed a petition in Family Court, but the nature of the case makes court transcripts confidential, Kitagawa said.

Honolulu media attorney Jeffrey Portnoy said he feels the information about why Chandler-Taniguchi was released by the court should be made public.

"I think the public has a right to understand what occurred in court that allowed this individual to be released from the hospital, particularly when it appears his own family wasn’t informed," Portnoy said Wednesday.

"It’s almost like a Star Chamber proceeding," he added, referring to the court in England that took testimony in secret from the late 15th to the mid-17th century.

Duquesa Padamada, a daughter of Edita Pada­mada, said in addition to Family Court refusing to release information about the hearing, the Kauai police have refused to release information to them about the investigation.

She said she sought the services of attorneys to challenge the police and Family Court, but each one she contacted refused to take the case — one of them telling the family that they had no case because the victim died, and another saying the family could not sue the judge.

"We didn’t get any information when we called the police department," she said. "They told us to get an attorney. … How can we get the information when no attorney will take the case? It’s very upsetting, very sad."

She said her family doesn’t even know which judge was responsible for releasing Chandler-Taniguchi.

"I want to find out," Padamada said. "It shouldn’t have happened in that case."

After the tragedy, the Padamada family sold their Menehune Road home and are living elsewhere.

"We don’t want all those memories," she said.

Rick, interviewed Wednesday, said that on the day of the stabbings he and his wife, Bergseid, were washing their car when they heard people shouting.

Rick said that through his fence he saw a police car following Chandler-Taniguchi, who was on foot, and a police officer shouting for him to stop.

Rick said Chandler-Taniguchi came up to his property and through his gate, and began attacking his wife. He said he pulled Chandler-Taniguchi off of her, but not beforeher head was cut by the butt of the knife and the knifecut deep into his right wrist.

According to police at the time, an officer at the scene attempted to stop Chandler-Taniguchi, but was ignored and Chandler-Taniguchi continued his attack. He was shot when he turned toward the officer, and he collapsed as he tried to flee, police said.

"We tried for quite a long time to get a police report," Rick said by telephone. "They said it was an ongoing investigation."

Rick said after the attacks, he became aware through friends of Chandler-Taniguchi that there had been problems with him when he wasn’t taking medication, and that he shouldn’t have been released.

"It’s one of those things that could have been avoided," he said. "It was just so sad."

He contends the problem stems from the lack of support for the mentally ill in Hawaii.

"It seems they don’t have good guidelines," Rick said.

He said he doesn’t understand why Family Court has refused to release the transcripts of the commitment hearing, especially when Chandler-Taniguchi is no longer alive.

"This is a criminal act, and he’s dead," Rick said.