Kahaluu victim had been stabbed in chest

The 23-year-old man whose body was found in a shipping container in Kahaluu last week had been stabbed in the chest, a deputy prosecutor told a state judge on Wednesday.

The body was that of Kenneth Ratzlaff, who was a tenant of property owner Samuel Campiformio.

An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging Campiformio, 41, with murder. He has been in custody since his arrest on Nov. 1. Circuit Judge Colette Garibaldi confirmed his bail at $500,000.

Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Tanaka said a stab wound had punctured Ratzlaff’s heart and left lung. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shipping container was on an Ahaolelo Road property. According to Honolulu property tax records, Campiformio is the owner of the 2-acre agricultural lot.

A man who paid Campiformio to store his boat on the property told police he saw two people who he believed were Campiformio and Ratzlaff walk past him toward the shipping container. He said there was no one else on the property.

“Then 10 minutes or so later the witness heard what he described as gruesome screaming and moaning coming from the nearby shipping container. After that there was some banging for a few seconds, then silence,” Tanaka said.

The man went to the shipping container and found it locked, Tanaka said. He told police that a few minutes later Campiformio approached him, denied hearing any noises and offered him oranges.

When Campiformio reluctantly opened the container, the man told police he saw Ratzlaff’s body slumped over in a pool of blood.

Tanaka said Campiformio gave police conflicting statements over whether he had seen Ratzlaff earlier. She said police also found a knife with what turned out to be Ratzlaff’s blood on it under a chicken coop near an orange tree.

Campiformio’s criminal record includes arrests and misdemeanor charges for violating a protective order and abuse of a family or household member. In a plea deal with the state, he pleaded no contest in July 2017 to misdemeanor assault, rather than abuse, and got the temporary restraining order violation and a second abuse charge dismissed. He was also granted a deferral of his no contest plea, giving him the opportunity to avoid conviction and to have the charge dismissed.