Wednesday marks the fifth anniversary of the North Shore slaying of 51-year-old Telma Boinville, whose 8-year-old daughter was found bound and her mouth duct-taped upstairs at a Pupukea house, while her mother was viciously beaten and stabbed to death downstairs.
Accused killer Stephen Brown, 23 at the time of the crimes, will stand trial Jan. 3 at age 28 without his alleged accomplice, 25-year-old ex-girlfriend Hailey Dandurand, then 20.
Oahu Circuit Judge Rowena Somerville ordered Oct. 31 that the defendants be tried separately — this after the court having denied for years both defendants’ numerous motions to sever.
The couple was indicted on charges of second-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and first-degree burglary.
Brown was also charged with fourth-degree criminal property damage. Dandurand had additional charges of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle for being found sitting in Boinville’s gold Toyota Tacoma and unauthorized possession of confidential information for allegedly having Boinville’s bank card in her shirt pocket.
Boinville, a teacher and part-time house cleaner originally from Brazil and a beloved member of the North Shore community, was found Dec. 7, 2017, in a pool of blood on the floor of the Ke Iki Road vacation rental while her daughter was upstairs.
Police found a bloody hammer, knife and mallet at the scene.
Boinville had a plastic bag tied over her head, and her hands and feet were hogtied behind her back, according to court documents filed by the state.
Her daughter’s hands and feet were bound with rope and her mouth taped, but she was able to describe the pair to her father, including the fact that the “guy” had green hair in a bun, and later identified the pair from a photo posted on social
media.
The girl’s uncle posted a video on social media that afternoon, which quickly gained traction. By early evening the community helped track down the gold pickup truck, and an angry mob of about 75 people were at the Mililani Walmart parking lot where the couple was found.
Brown’s court-appointed attorney, William Bagasol, asked the court a number of times for severance, asserting that it would be unfairly prejudicial to his client if he went to trial with Dandurand since she intends to pursue defenses of battered spouse and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The end result of a joint trial will be that Mr. Brown will be forced to fight against two prosecutors for the State, the other the Co-Defendant’s Defense team,” Bagasol wrote, adding that it would allow for Brown to have a fair trial.
Dandurand was actually the first to ask for severance on April 29, 2019, but Brown’s deputy public
defender at the time had opposed the idea.
On May 27, 2020, Dandurand’s criminal defense attorney, Barry Sooalo, petitioned for a temporary restraining order against Brown. Family Court Judge Natasha Brown granted the order until 2030. The order was terminated in June 2020.
They were both being held and continue to be held at the Oahu Community Correctional Center, unable to post bail — Brown, $1 million; Dandurand, $500,000. A no-
contact order was part of the conditions of bail.
The state had also repeatedly objected to the severance.
But Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell agreed to separate trials of Brown and Dandurand, stating in an Oct. 17 court document that the state intends to introduce an alleged statement that Brown made to a minor witness that incriminates Dandurand, so a joinder is no longer defensible.
According to court minutes, the court granted the severance based on the state’s statement that it agreed to it.
Trial for Dandurand has not yet been scheduled.
