The 911 caller who last month alerted police to a 48-year-old homeless woman who had been beaten with a tree trunk just outside the Kapolei police station, said Wednesday that the woman had been so badly beaten her face was unrecognizable.

During a preliminary hearing for Michael Kalama Armstrong, 35, who is charged in the murder of Linda M. Johnson, James Thomas Smith III told the court that he was seated inside the station at the time of the Feb. 15 attack and could see through the glass entry doors a man yelling, punching a skinny tree loose, ripping it from the ground and jumping around.

“I could see him slamming the tree towards the ground,” Smith said. Later, upon going outside, Smith found Armstrong standing over Johnson’s body.

Honolulu District Court Judge Tracy Fukui found probable cause for the second-degree murder charge, and set Armstrong’s arraignment and plea for March 21 in Circuit Court. She also confirmed his bail at $1 million. Smith identified Armstrong, who was present in-person for the hearing held via video teleconferencing.

Smith said he arrived at the station at 6:30 p.m. to meet his children. He said Johnson approached him near the entrance and politely asked him for some water. Johnson also told Smith she needed help and emergency assistance.

Smith said he relayed that to an officer inside the station, but “she did not come out and check on the lady.”

Smith said that after the nearby commotion had continued for about 25 minutes, he went outside to ensure his children did not encounter the man. Upon seeing Johnson’s bloodied body, Smith said he ran into the station, pounded on a door and called 911 and then pounded on another door, but no one opened a door.

Responding officer Nicholas Kim testified Johnson appeared lifeless, and the tree’s base was spattered with blood.

Dr. Jon Gates, forensic pathologist at the Medical Examiner’s Office, testified that Johnson died of blunt force injuries to her head, neck and chest.

Armstrong, who has a history of diagnosed mental illness, was acquitted by reason of insanity in 2007 in a burglary, auto theft and theft case on Hawaii island, and was committed to the Hawaii State Hospital.

Shortly before the fatal assault on Feb. 15, Armstrong had been released by police at the Kapolei station pending investigation after allegedly punching an officer a day earlier in Mililani.

Johnson had been arrested on Feb. 14 for alleged park-closure violations in Waikiki, and was later released. She was taken to Kapolei station because the cellblock at Honolulu Police Department headquarters was under construction.