The longtime live-in girlfriend of a Hilo general contractor is still under suspicion of his January 2013 slaying, the commander of Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said Thursday.
The longtime live-in girlfriend of a Hilo general contractor is still under suspicion of his January 2013 slaying, the commander of Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said Thursday.
Police Lt. Greg Esteban said Thursday Cherie Sueko Moskwa “remains the suspect at this point” in the fatal stabbing of 38-year-old Lloyd Rubio, owner of Big Island Construction.
According to police, Moskwa called dispatchers at 5:19 a.m. on Jan. 7, 2013, and Fire Department medics found Rubio unresponsive in his Kaumana home.
Rubio was pronounced dead a little more than two hours later at Hilo Medical Center. According to an autopsy, a stab wound to the abdomen punctured the aorta, the largest artery in the body.
According to court documents filed by police, Rubio was stabbed in his bed and a kitchen knife was the murder weapon.
Moskwa, then 37, told police she was awakened by Rubio yelling, “He got me, he got me,” the documents state. She reportedly told officers she saw blood on Rubio’s body, then got up, gathered her then 3-month-old baby who was sleeping in the bedroom with them, then checked on her other two children who were in separate bedrooms.
Police arrested Moskwa that evening on suspicion of second-degree murder, but released her two days later pending further investigation. She has not been charged.
“We’re not going to disclose a motive yet,” Esteban said about the slaying.
Police say follow-ups and analysis of the case were recently completed and the case has been routed to prosecutors for review.
“If there’s any additional follow-ups that prosecutors want us to conduct after they conduct their initial review of the case, we’ll conduct those follow-ups,” Esteban said.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.