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COURTESY CRIMESTOPPERS
Police released a sketch of a suspect in a murder on March 6, 2006 in the Punahou area. The suspect was in his 20s and about 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds.
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This courtesy photo shows Jason Nam, who was beaten and shot to death while washing his car at his Beretania Street apartment on March 10, 2006.
Honolulu police and the family of a then-31-year-old Punahou man renewed pleas for information that could help solve a killing that happened 10 years ago today.
The victim, Jason Nam, was washing his Lexus in the parking lot of his apartment building at 1709 S. Beretania Street, at 4 p.m. on March 10, 2006, when three men wearing black hoods and red bandannas drove up in a stolen black Nissan Maxima, hit Nam with a bat, dragged him behind his car and shot him in the neck, police said.
Police released a sketch of one of the suspects, whose mask slipped, but there have been no arrests and few leads.
“Relationships change over 10 years,” Police Sgt. Kim Buffet told reporters today. “People have information. We hope someone will come forward. … In his circle of friends someone knows something. Someone needs to come forward and give us information on this case.”
“After 10 years, it seems like it was just yesterday,” said Alicia Nam, Jason’s mother. “For me it is not easy because everything I see reminds me of him. Hopefully, we can get some kind of closure.”
Jason’s father Michael added: “These punks are still running free, getting away with murder.”
Nam, a bodybuilder, had been an assistant manager at Govinda Fresh Juices in Iwilei, where he had worked for about 12 years. He graduated in 1992 from Kailua High School.
The Maxima was found burning on Makohilani Street near Keehuhiwa Street in Mililani at 9:25 p.m. on March 10, 2006. It had been stolen on March 2, 2006 in Mililani, police said.
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CORRECTION: Murder victim Jason Nam, whose unsolved murder was revisited in a Crime Stoppers bulletin, was a graduate of Kailua High School. An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified his alma mater.
It sounds like some kind of organized crime or drug “hit.” Scary. I hope they find these people.
A private investigator could look into Jason Nam’s life and see what kind of leads can turn up. Just keep trying and the smallest unrelated detail could turn out to unlock this mystery. The car drove up to where Jason was living, so the perpetrators somehow knew Jason and his life. Perhaps it was some kind of romantic triangle. Whatever, a P.I. would do well, not that HPD detectives have not worked on this case rigorously, just that a fresh set of eyes always helps. The CourtTV true life drama “Forensic Files” has several cases where it took a very long time to solve this type of a mystery.