The 30-year-old woman found stabbed to death in her Young Street apartment Wednesday "adored" the husband who may have killed her before he died in a fiery crash near the North Shore on Monday, the woman’s business partner said.
"I never thought that in a million years that this would have happened to her," said Melissa Padilla, who co-owned Opihi Love Wedding & Event Design on Maui with the victim.
"They loved each other. That was clear. She adored him," Padilla said in a telephone interview.
On Friday the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as Sheryll Mae Filiaga. Friends identified her husband as Eric Filiaga, 37.
The Medical Examiner’s Office said Sheryll Filiaga bled to death from cuts to the neck and had stab wounds to her body. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Police found her body in her apartment during a check on her welfare at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Detectives opened a second-degree murder case and are not looking for a suspect, said Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu.
Police believe Eric Filiaga was the man who died in an SUV crash near the North Shore on Monday.
Police said a man driving a 2011 Nissan Rogue SUV was seen cutting in and out of traffic when the driver lost control and hit a utility pole at about 6:25 p.m. The SUV landed in a pineapple field and burst into flames.
Police said the SUV was registered to Sheryll Filiaga.
The driver was burned beyond recognition, and his identity is pending. Eric Filiaga’s relatives said they have been trying to contact him for weeks.
Sheryll Filiaga’s friends said the couple married years ago, but without a formal ceremony, something that she always wanted.
Padilla said the couple finally had a wedding ceremony before relatives at a private estate on Maui in February 2013.
But Padilla and other friends were stunned Friday to learn that the couple had divorced a month before the wedding.
"We’re all kind of finding this out as everyone else is," said Padilla, who met Sheryll Filiaga while planning Filiaga’s wedding.
According to divorce papers, Filiaga was born in the Philippines and married Eric Filiaga on Feb. 14, 2008.
She is survived by a sister on Oahu, friends said.
Several friends described Sheryll Filiaga as caring and a hard worker and said she worked full time as a manager at Hawaii 5-0 Vacation Rentals but hoped to make the wedding business her main career.
Filiaga joined Padilla’s company about a year ago and took over planning and coordinating while Padilla handled the designs.
Padilla said Filiaga found a passion for weddings while helping plan her own.
"She was detail-oriented. She was amazing," Padilla said. "She worked tirelessly to do amazing things for her brides."
She said Filiaga had planned about seven weddings for the company and was making it grow.
"We had a lot of really big goals and business plans," Padilla said.
Padilla said she had been trying to reach Filiaga for several days before police found her body Wednesday.
She said Filiaga was a private person and never hinted that there was any trouble in her marriage.
"She was my support system," Padilla said. "I’m having a very hard time."
