Stephen Brown found guilty in brutal North Shore murder

Family and friends of Telma Boinville, slain in a savage 2017 attack at a Pupukea vacation rental, were pleased and relieved that a Circuit Court jury Friday found Stephen Brown guilty of murder, kidnapping and burglary charges.

Jurors began deliberation Thursday afternoon and resumed Friday morning, quickly returning their decision at 9:33 a.m.

After the verdict, Boinville’s close friend Lucia Peterson said she spoke by phone to Boinville’s mother in Brazil. “She’s very happy that justice was served today,” Peterson said. “She’s praying he never leaves jail.”

The jury found Brown, 28, guilty as charged of second-degree murder; two counts of kidnapping of Boinville and her then 8-year-old daughter, Makana Boinville Emery; and first-degree burglary in the Dec. 7, 2017, crimes at a Ke Iki Road vacation rental that rocked the North Shore community.

As the verdict was read, Brown stood before the judge wearing a blue, long-sleeved shirt and brown pants, his hair pulled back in a neat bun. He shook his attorney’s hand before he was taken back to jail.

Brown admitted to the kidnappings and burglary, saying he helped tie Boinville with a rope and that he tied up her daughter. But he testified he did so at the direction of then-girlfriend, Hailey Dandurand, 25, who Brown said taped the girl’s mouth and did the killing.

Dandurand is also charged with murder, kidnapping and burglary but will be tried separately as early as July. She did not testify at Brown’s trial.

Judge Rowena Somerville on Friday instructed jurors to return Monday to hear arguments on the state’s motion for an extended sentence for Brown’s multiple felony convictions. Brown faces a sentence of life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder, but an extended term could mean life without the possibility of parole.

Outside the courtroom, tears flowed as supporters embraced one another, many from the North Shore community where Boinville lived and worked as a teacher at Sunset Beach Elementary School assisting mostly Brazilian students for whom English is a second language.

Friend Caludia Tzaschel said the crime reached “a different level of violence” for Hawaii.

Boinville, who went to the vacation rental to clean the house, surprised the man and woman who had been inside the home. Boinville was found in a pool of blood, her head covered with a plastic bag, with numerous wounds to her head and body.

Peterson helps care for Boinville Emery, now a young teen, and said she remains afraid. The girl was escorted to the witness stand for her testimony, averting her eyes and never seeing her kidnapper, whose hair was green at the time.

She did not witness her mother’s death, but testified that the boy with green hair told her, “We killed your mom.”

Boinville Emery said he then carried her from the family’s gold Toyota Tacoma pickup and brought her inside the house, where a girl with pink hair met them. She said they went upstairs, where her hands and feet were bound to a bedpost and the girl taped her mouth.

Brown’s court-appointed attorney, William Bagasol asked if she could have gotten confused or whether someone may have suggested what she testified to, but the young teen held to her testimony.

Brown said the girl was mistaken and that he told her that her mom wanted to see her inside, so she walked in. He did admit to carrying her upstairs and shielding her face from seeing her injured mother on the living room floor.

Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell asserted that Brown falsely testified that Boinville was unhurt when he tied her up and left the house to search the property to make sure no one else was there.

Despite the more than 40 witnesses and 400 pieces of evidence the state presented, it had only circumstantial evidence to work with and no eyewitnesses. But Bell told jurors they could infer certain facts based on such evidence.

Bagasol pointed out the lack of any conclusive DNA evidence, blood or fingerprint evidence tying Brown to any of the evidence, including a bloody machete, kitchen knife, folding knife and metal meat-tenderizing tool.

Bell said the number of weapons suggested two people were involved in the stabbing and assault, which caused numerous sharp- and blunt-force injuries along with fracturing of the skull, possibly from a machete, bat or similar heavy object.

But Bagasol said Brown was shocked to find Boinville covered in blood when he got back after 10 to 15 minutes outside, and exclaimed, “What the f— did you do?”

Dandurand is expected to raise the defense that she was a victim of Brown’s abuse. In 2020, a few years after the crimes, her attorney filed a restraining order against Brown for abuse even though he has been in custody for the past five years.

Peterson, who grew up with Boinville in Brazil, has remained close to Boinville’s daughter, who visits her on Kauai and vice versa.

“Telma was a good mom and Makana always came first,” she said. “They had a strong bond.”

“She’s going to be a strong woman, and I’m going to keep the image of Telma alive. … She appreciates being alive. They almost took her life.”

Peterson said Boinville Emery sometimes calls her to translate recipes from Boinville’s cookbook, which is in Portuguese. “She wants to be a chef and go to culinary school” and open a restaurant, Peterson said. Similarly, “Telma’s dream was to have a bakery together with her.”

Friends say many of them came together after the murder and kidnappings to embrace Boinville’s only child and to continue to speak Portuguese, because that’s what her mom would want.

Leila Alii said many at Boinville’s memorial service in 2017 said, “Telma was my best friend. … She was very well loved, not just by the Brazilian community, but by all the North Shore community.

“Telma was like on a different level, like she had climbed here, ready to live a higher level,” Alii said, gesturing above her head.