COURTESY KAUAI COUNTY POLICE
Justin Wynn Klein
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Justin Klein pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday for allegedly throwing a 31-year-old Japanese visitor off a cliff on Kauai’s North Shore.
His trial was scheduled for Aug. 5 at Kauai Circuit Court. Klein is being held at the Kauai Community Correctional Center in lieu of $1 million bail. A grand jury indicted Klein, 37, on second-degree attempted murder charges.
Police arrested Klein on Saturday afternoon at Lydgate Beach Park, ending a nearly four-month manhunt when it appeared as though he wanted to turn himself in after approaching a group of beachgoers and identifying himself, a county spokeswoman said.
Azusa Ino of Fukuoka prefecture suffered significant head injuries after she was allegedly thrown from a 15-foot cliff in Kalalau Valley on Dec. 16. She was at Wilcox Memorial Hospital for more than a week and returned to Japan after she was released.
Klein’s sister, Jody Pearson, said Klein and Ino had a "romantic" relationship. Pearson described the incident as an accident and said her brother never intended to harm Ino.
Police are investigating the extent of Klein and Ino’s relationship.
