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Man charged in Makiki stabbing death of his girlfriend

COURTESY HAWAII CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA CENTER
                                Dustin Saluda
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COURTESY HAWAII CRIMINAL JUSTICE DATA CENTER

Dustin Saluda

Prosecutors have charged a 35-year-old man today in connection with Sunday’s stabbing death of his 31-year-old girlfriend in Makiki Heights.

Dustin W. Saluda was charged with second-degree murder. His bail is set at $1 million.

Positive identification of the victim has yet to be released by the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office.

The deadly stabbing occurred at a unit at the Mott-Smith Laniloa condominium building at 1717 Mott Smith Drive at about 8 p.m. Sunday.

Police said the victim was pronounced dead after officers found her unresponsive with multiple stab wounds to her body.

Officers arrested the suspect later identified as Saluda at the scene on suspicion of murder.

Details surrounding the circumstances of the stabbing was not immediately known.

In 2013, an Oahu grand jury indicted Saluda with felony arson after he was accused of starting a fire in his apartment at the Ala Wai Plaza condominium complex at 500 University Ave.

According to a police affidavit, Saluda told authorities he started the fire because his roommate, the Honolulu Police Department and the Marine had hypnotized him. The blaze forced hundreds of residents to evacuate the 25-floor story building.

A Circuit Court judge acquitted Saluda in 2014 by reason of insanity and committed him to the Hawaii State Hospital in Kaneohe. Court records show Saluda was granted conditional release in 2017.

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