Trial has been set for a 22-year-old Honomu man accused of the fatal stabbing of a homeless man.
Trial has been set for a 22-year-old Honomu man accused of the fatal stabbing of a homeless man.
Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura ordered Garrett A. Dahlin to report for trial 9 a.m. July 20. Dahlin, through his court-appointed attorney, Stanton Oshiro, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder.
Dahlin is accused stabbing 43-year Brian Whetten the afternoon of Jan. 20 in a grassy area between several Kilauea Avenue businesses and the mauka Hilo Bayfront soccer fields.
Whetten walked to the parking lot of the downtown Hilo Longs Drugs store and then collapsed. Bystanders, including an Army National Guard medic and a University of Hawaii nursing student, stabilized him until police and emergency medical technicians arrived. He was later pronounced dead at Hilo Medical Center.
Another man and two women, all Dahlin’s housemates, according to police, were also arrested, but were released from custody pending further investigation. None, to date, have been charged.
A panel of three mental health professionals have found Dahlin fit to proceed to trial.
Dahlin is in custody at Hawaii Community Correctional Center in lieu of $250,000 bail.