KEALAKEKUA — The man accused with setting the Big Island Drug Court on fire is headed to trial after a judge found probable cause Wednesday to send the case to circuit court. ADVERTISING KEALAKEKUA — The man accused with setting
KEALAKEKUA — The man accused with setting the Big Island Drug Court on fire is headed to trial after a judge found probable cause Wednesday to send the case to circuit court.
His suspected accomplice, however, is waiting for a mental health examination.
Randi-Keli Banagan, 24, of Captain Cook, and Kainoa Lindo, 22, of Honaunau, are both charged with first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson, first-degree criminal property damage and two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening.
The charges stem from two different incidents. One was for intentionally setting the fire that damaged a door and wall at the courthouse on March 3, the exact day Banagan was set to be sentenced for a probation violation, possibly to prison. The other was when Banagan allegedly threatened teenagers with a handgun while Lindo was driving the vehicle they used.
“Randi was the one that put Kainoa up to burn that courthouse,” said Shivonne “Kaylie” Kahee, Lindo’s girlfriend, in a recorded statement to police.
She spent much of the night of March 3 with the two, she testified, although she refused to go to the courthouse.
Wednesday dealt primarily with Lindo’s part of the arson case, where prosecutors allege he was the person who actually poured the fuel and ignited the courthouse before business hours. A judge and clerk were in the building at the time of the fire, but no injuries were reported. Passersby extinguished the fire.
Banagan had her preliminary hearing suspended after her attorney, James Biven, entered a request for a mental health examination. He said that two doctors had found mental illness defenses in a 2014 shooting she was involved in in Holualoa, which led to a plea agreement.
Kona District Jusge Margaret Masunaga granted the motion.
The prosecution provided several videos, including the security camera footage of the incident. It shows a truck backing into a space, later joined by a sedan. The vehicles flank a truck used by the clerk, who told investigators she could smell gas when she went in.
A man approaches the door with a cloth and a liquid container. The man puts the liquid on the door and ignites it, the light from the flames wiping out much of the image.
He then runs to the truck and drives away.
Wild testimony
Kahee, who was eventually arrested March 14 on unrelated charges, gave a statement to Detective Walter Ah Mow. Officers arrested her on a bail jumping and four contempt of court charges.
She came close to another contempt charge during Wednesday’s hearing, as her profanity-laced statements and frustration with Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Sheri Lawson’s questions drew Masunaga’s reprimand.
“All you have to do is answer the questions of Mrs. Lawson, even if it’s the same answer,” Masunaga said.
During testimony with Lindo’s defense attorney Robert Kim, she said she was on meth at the time and didn’t remember what she said.
“I don’t know why you’re asking me all these questions, I don’t remember nothing,” she told Lawson.
Later, Lawson introduced a recorded video of Kahee giving her statement.
She said she was not at the courthouse at the time of the fire.
She tried to convince him not to, Ah Mow testified, but “he was too high” to reason with and Banagan would ensure he went through with it.
In her recorded statement, Banagan said she didn’t ask anyone to burn the courthouse and she was afraid Lindo would do so, which is why she left.
The prosecution introduced a recording of Banagan’s emotional appearance in front of Kona Circuit Judge Melvin Fujino on Feb. 19, where she thought she would be headed straight for prison on a probation violation. She admitted to using meth in the 48 hours before the hearing, and Fujino suspended proceedings to March 3 to ensure her mind was clear.
Lindo was also charged with unlawful possession of a propelled vehicle, a gray primer-painted truck reported stolen on Jan. 28. Kahee said he began driving the truck in Febuary and said he had to hotwire the vehicle because he lost the keys.
Brush fire suspect named
Ah Mow testified Lindo denied stealing or spray painting the truck and Lindo said Daniel “Duke” Abraham was responsible for starting the Hookena Beach Road and courthouse fires.
The truck that was used in the fire was identified by several witnesses, Ah Mow said, and the VIN matched a truck stolen in January.
It had Kaylie and Kainoa written on the inner roof, he said.
The hood and tailgate had been changed, he added, and the vehicle was given a coat of gray primer, but it was the same truck. It was recovered mauka of the fire on March 6 at Hookena Beach Road.
Abraham, also known as Daniel Abrojina, was seen throwing fireworks out of the back of the truck, according to Kahee’s recorded statement.
Based on its location, it appeared the intent was to have the fire destroy the truck, Ah Mow said. Abraham is “on the fly” and police believe he is connected with the recent brush fires throughout West Hawaii, he said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, another blaze broke out between mile marker 24 and 25 on Highway 190. It was apparently caused by a lightning strike, said Battalion Chief Ty Medeiros. It consumed about 900 acres by 5 p.m.
Arguing against evidence
After establishing that forensics were taken, but the results were not back, Kim argued that the case should be discharged.
“The two lynch pins of this case are the statements of Kaylie and Randi Banagan,” Kim said.
He pointed out that Banagan’s attorney had asked for a mental health hearing for his client and Kahee had lied to the police about her identity and age.
Despite these questionable sources, the prosecution went ahead with charges, he said.
“I would argue, respectfully, that the evidence is weak,” he said.
Masunaga ruled the case reached the probable cause standard, and a hearing will be at 11:30 a.m. March 30 in front of Third Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra.
The case alleging that Lindo was involved with threatening three teenagers on March 20 at the scenic overlook on Kamehameha III Road was continued to 10 a.m. April 20.
Lindo is being held on a $400,000 bond. Banagan’s bond is $1 million.
