The ex-girlfriend of a 25-year-old Ewa Beach man indicted in the killing of his most recent romantic partner successfully secured a temporary restraining order against him in 2019 after he allegedly threatened to kill her if she left him.
On Jun. 3, 2019, the woman alleged in a petition for order of protection that her then-boyfriend of three years, Samuel Michael David Jones, said he would kill her and her baby if she ever got pregnant. She claims Jones controlled her life to the point that she was nearly cut off from friends and family. She said his alleged obsessive, compulsive and controlling behavior were exacerbated by a car accident and knee surgery.
“I do not want to be harassed, stalked or controlled any longer,” wrote the woman on June 3, 2019.
“I want to live a free life.”
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser is not naming the woman because of the allegations of domestic violence. A Family Court judge approved the protective order that was in effect until Nov. 30, 2019.
Jones, now 25, was indicted Friday by an Oahu grand jury for second-degree murder and first-degree arson in connection with the death of his 21-year-old girlfriend, who was found dead inside her burned car March 13 in the parking lot at Mililani High School.
A passerby allegedly noticed Jones walking away from the burning vehicle, took photos of him and notified police. Responding officers found Laau Jordan Laulusa, a specialist with the Hawaii Army National Guard, with multiple lacerations and puncture wounds, and Jones was allegedly carrying a “bladed-type weapon.”
Jones, a specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve, was arrested a short while later about a quarter-mile away. He is being held at Oahu Community Correctional Center in lieu of $1 million bail and is scheduled for an arraignment and plea on Tuesday.
The second-degree murder charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. First-degree arson is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Jones’ ex-girlfriend in her 2019 petition wrote that Jones would be at her house when she would come home and often appeared wherever she was, unannounced. Jones allegedly accused her of cheating on him and forced her to lie to her parents and his parents.
“Keeps me away from loved ones. Tells me what to wear. Verbally abusive. Goes through my phone/social media,” wrote the woman. “I feel that his knee surgery and car accident caused him to be more obsessive and controlling over me. I am only now reporting this because he is off island and will be returning today. I really need this TRO to protect myself.”
