Rather than disclose crucial information and bring some closure to the decades-long case of Dana Ireland’s rape and murder, the Hawaii County Police Department is set on prolonging the pain. The Hawaii Supreme Court, then, is urged to send the message loud and clear: No more. No more bungling, no more police evasiveness, no more injustice that sent two brothers to prison — one for 23 years — for a heinous crime they didn’t commit.
For 33 years, this case has been a tragic reminder of a young life brutally cut short, as well as a criminal investigation then prosecution gone terribly awry. Ireland was just 23 and visiting from Virginia when, on Christmas Eve 1991 out riding a bicycle, she was struck, abducted and raped; she was found beaten and bloodied on a fishing trail. After miscommunication and first-responder confusion delayed help to the scene, Ireland died the next day.
Under intense scrutiny and pressure, false witness statements were secured as well as a false confession — resulting in the wrongful imprisonments of Shawn Schweitzer and his brother, Albert “Ian” Schweitzer; the latter served 23 years before modern-day DNA techniques exonerated both men. (A third man also was wrongly imprisoned in the Ireland case.) Simply, the Schweitzers’ DNA was not present at the crime scenes, proving they were not there — and with help from the Hawaii Innocence Project, Albert Schweitzer’s conviction was vacated in January 2023, and he was freed; in October 2023, Shawn Schweitzer’s conviction was vacated.
What new DNA techniques did reveal this summer, however, was a conclusive match for Albert Lauro Jr., 57, with evidence gathered from the crime scene. But after police took Lauro in for an hourlong questioning on July 19, they inexplicably released him; four days later Lauro committed suicide. What seemed to be a major breakthrough, then, suddenly and shockingly vanished — surely heartbreaking for the Ireland family.
For the Schweitzers, the twists and turns continue, with more snafus by the Hawaii County Police Department. The department is fighting a legal request by the brothers for the police interview with Lauro as well as surveillance related to the case — information that could well support a legal finding of the Schweitzers’ actual innocence, which is needed toward restitution for wrongful imprisonment. In early August, Hilo Circuit Judge Peter Kubota sided with the Schweitzers over objections of county police, who claim secrecy is still needed because the investigation is ongoing.
Police are now appealing Kubota’s ruling to the Hawaii Supreme Court, aiming to block the release of the Lauro files. But Kubota rightly double-downed in his Aug. 15 response to the police’s appeal: “The court expressly finds that the interest of determination of actual innocence of the Schweitzers, and the public right to review matters which have been of great significance to this community in the past 33 years, greatly outweighs the HPD request to keep its investigation private.”
Over the decades, so much has gone wrong with the Ireland case, drawing criticism about the competence of Hawaii County’s police and prosecutors. And the absence of any satisfying resolution, after 33 years, damages public trust in the fairness and integrity of Hawaii’s criminal justice system.
The many fumbles in this case only compound the pain over Dana Ireland’s tragic death. With the main suspect recently found but just as suddenly gone, no justice will ever be served for Ireland. For the wrongly imprisoned Schweitzer brothers, however, some measure of recompense is still achievable. For their sake, as well as the sake of transparency in police operations, the Supreme Court should uphold Kubota’s ruling — and compel Hawaii County police to disclose its investigation, including the interview with Lauro.
