COURTESY CRIMESTOPPERS
Scott Deangelo
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Scott Deangelo, whose 2022 murder case was among the first to be dismissed due to the “Obrero” Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in September, has been indicted for first-degree arson in a related but separate crime.
He will be arraigned Monday on the Class A felony charge, which carries a possible prison term of 20 years.
An Oahu grand jury Tuesday indicted Deangelo on the arson charge for a Feb. 7, 2022, incident in which he allegedly set fire to another person’s property worth more than $20,000 in connection with the slaying that same day.
Deangelo was initially charged Feb. 10, 2022, by complaint with second-degree murder in the death of Demond Cox and place to keep a firearm, but the case was dismissed Oct. 10.
In its Sept. 8 Obrero decision, the Supreme Court ruled that in certain cases involving serious crimes, prosecutors must obtain a grand jury indictment against a suspect and cannot rely on alternatives such as information charging or the complaint and preliminary hearing process to file felony charges.
Deangelo was indicted Oct. 21 on second-degree murder and firearm charges for allegedly killing Cox, whose burned body was found in the kitchen of a Pearl City apartment along with a knife near the body.
Witnesses reported that Deangelo jumped from a fourth-floor unit window onto the sidewalk and fled. He was found in Laie with burns to his hands and cuts to his arms.
His murder trial is set for Nov. 6.
