Man found guilty in girlfriend’s stabbing death

A state jury deliberated for just three hours Friday before finding Fred Silva III guilty of murder in the 2015 stabbing death of his girlfriend at a homeless camp in Nanakuli.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner says Calvine Nakatani, 44, died Feb. 4, 2015, of a single stab wound to her torso.

Silva, 58, testified Thursday that he didn’t intend to stab or kill Nakatani. He said Nakatani was sitting under a large tarp at Kahe Beach Park with other people when he went there to ask her to go with him to his camp.

He said he was holding a knife at his side.

When Nakatani did not respond, Silva said, he held the knife flat against her shoulder and asked her again. He said Nakatani stood up, then sat back down unconscious, so he started performing CPR.

He said he didn’t realize his knife had penetrated Nakatani until after police arrived and she was taken away on a stretcher.

Silva faces a mandatory life prison term with possible release on parole at sentencing in January. He has prior convictions for assault and manslaughter.