An Ewa Beach man accused of setting a fire at a Pearl City home that resulted in the death of a 97-year-old woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in state court to manslaughter, drug violations and several burglaries.
Michael P. Dahilig, 35, entered a plea agreement that calls for 35 years in prison and requires that he serve a minimum of 11 years before being eligible for parole.
Dahilig is scheduled to be sentenced by Circuit Judge Randal Lee on Nov. 20.
He would have faced the maximum of a life term with the possibility of parole if convicted at a trial, which was scheduled for Oct. 8.
Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, who personally handled the Dahilig case, agreed to drop an arson charge in exchange for the manslaughter plea.
After the hearing, Kaneshiro told reporters that he met with members of victim Betty Hagihara’s family before agreeing to the plea. "They are in total agreement," Kaneshiro said.
Hagihara owned the home in Pearl City, which repeatedly had been burglarized by Dahilig.
She died from smoke inhalation in the fire set by Dahilig on March 30. Two other people in the home escaped with the help of a neighbor.
Prosecutors said Dahilig used what police described as a "lighter torch" to try to break into a storage shed of a house at 1888 Hoomalolo St. The shed caught fire and Dahilig fled. The fire spread to the house.
Hagihara’s son, Ronald Kawakami, 78, told the Associated Press the family is satisfied with the outcome. "She had a good, full life," he said of his mother. "Too bad she had to go that way." The family had been looking forward to being able to throw a big 100th birthday celebration, he said.
Even if Dahilig doesn’t serve the full 35 years, "in a way, justice is served," Kawakami said. "He threw his future away."
An Oahu grand jury indicted Dahilig in April on charges of manslaughter, arson, burglary, attempted burglary, possession of drugs and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. He has been held on $1 million bail.
Kaneshiro said surveillance video of two burglary suspects recorded in a nearby home helped obtain the conviction.
Hagihara’s home had been burglarized at least seven times. Five days before the fire, the family placed three locks on the shed after someone tried to burn through a lock. The shed held gardening tools and expensive radio-controlled model airplanes.
Police said a neighbor saw Dahilig searching the remnants of Hagihara’s home the day after the fire. He also was a suspect in the burglaries of another home on the same street on Sept. 1, 2011, and March 6. Dahilig was arrested April 3 in Ewa Beach after tips to CrimeStoppers.
Dahilig has eight prior convictions, including three for burglary, one for robbery and two for drug offenses.
