One of Hawaii’s most notorious hit men has died.
Henry Huihui, who had cancer, died on Jan. 20 at the Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu after suffering a stroke eight days earlier, his family said.
He was 77.
Born Henry Willis Huihui in Kakaako, he was an electrician and at one time worked as the director of the apprenticeship program for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1186, his family said.
In May 1984, Huihui pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges and the 1977 murders of gambler David Riveira and Inland Boatmen’s Union head Josiah Lii.
He told prosecutors he killed Riveira because he turned police informant and had assaulted a family member.
He said he killed Lii because of a power struggle among union factions.
In the mid-1980s, prosecutors sought Huihui’s cooperation in an attempt to go after a reputed crime boss on the Big Island.
His daughter Jamie Huihui-Lono said her father told her he played games with the prosecutors and never gave them any information to incriminate anyone.
"He said nothing he said put anyone in prison," she recalled by telephone Saturday.
Huihui served 26 years and seven months in various federal prisons for his crimes, she said.
She said two years ago, her father, who was living in Albany, N.Y., was diagnosed with stage 3 colon and prostate cancer, and she insisted he return to Hawaii.
"He was glad to see his great-grandchildren," she said. "Before he died, he told me he was glad he returned to Hawaii."
She said although he never spoke about the killings, she knew he felt bad for the children of the men he murdered.
"I was just glad he was home. We went camping and stuff. There was a lot of healing with family," she said.
His is also survived by sons Henry James, Mitchell, and Black; daughters Misty Tehane and Madeline Mineshima; 17 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. Private services are pending.
