Homeless man charged with murder in Manoa beating
A 59-year-old homeless man was charged today in connection with the killing of a 70-year-old homeless man in a church parking lot in Manoa.
David Orpin was charged at 4:30 p.m. with second-degree murder. He was being held at the main station on $100,000 bail.
Police said Orpin walked to the police department’s main station on Beretania Street about 2 a.m. Wednesday and said he might have killed a man in a church parking lot in Manoa.
Officers went to St. Pius X Catholic Church on Lowrey Avenue and found a man’s body in the back parking lot. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Police said the victim might have been beaten about five hours before Orpin approached officers.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office has not identified the victim but determined he died of head injuries from blunt force trauma.
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Detectives do not know if a weapon was used in the beating.
It was the second time a homeless man is suspected of killing another homeless man on Oahu within a month.
Earl Grant III was stabbed during an argument at the corner of Kapahulu and Kalakaua avenues on Sept. 22. Brandon Wright, 29, was released in connection with the case because prosecutors determined the stabbing was in self-defense.
Darlene Hein, of the Waikiki Care-A-Van program, said studies show homeless people are not more likely to be violent than anyone else.