Hawaii is never short on news of domestic violence of one sort or another. With a population of nearly 1.3 million people, there are some mainland towns with more people. It’s no wonder that when someone in Hawaii, or someone with a connection to Hawaii, commits a crime the presses roll.
Woman Drowns Child, Father Indicted
A young woman (16) from the State of Washington is said to have drowned her newborn baby. On January 7, 2009, the Honolulu Advertiser relayed an AP report, “Wash. teen charged with drowning newborn in toilet,” that she held the child’s face underwater until it stopped breathing. Then she threw the body in the trash.
Authorities didn’t find the body until after looking through 60 tons of trash. They still have to DNA test to make sure that the child was hers.
In a strange twist, the AP story notes that the young woman’s father was indicted on weapons and drug possession charges AND, by the way, concealing a birth. Anybody I know would have bragged about being a grandpa at 41.
Looks like the prosecution is setting up the Dad to take the fall for his little girl. Prosecutors will call it something ridiculous, like a domestic violence induced murder. The girl will get off with a few years and the Dad will be spending his retirement years in the can.
The police have her affidavit admitting to the crime. How are they going to determine the motive? If the girl claims she killed the child because the father made her do it, how do we know that she did not kill the child in an act of revenge against the father? Family conflicts should not result in the death of an innocent newborn.
Woman stabs man, Man dies
On the Islands, Maui resident John Shaniyo, 33, must have figured out he picked the wrong girlfriend after she punched a hole in his gut with a kitchen knife, sliced an artery and then hightailed it out of the neighborhood.
The HA article “Maui man died from single stab wound” shows a little credit to our justice system by posting bail in the amount of $500,000 for Rachel Berta. Maui is not a very big island, but I’m sure there are a lot of people who would immediately assume that Shaniyo must have done something really bad to this woman.
Berta will likely plead self defense against an abusive boyfriend. That should get her acquitted. I mean, he’s dead, so he can’t defend himself. And when they did track her down, she was in a church. Doesn’t that mean she was doing confession or something?
Conflict is a natural part of relationships. It’s how you handle the conflict that makes the difference between mutual respect and mutual abuse. She didn’t have to pick up that knife.
Cats may be on your road, too.
Finally, a 26 year old Kauai man was release from custody after swerving, killing a cat in the road, and dumping the body in a trash can. In Oahu, you can’t get pigeon owners to clean up after their dead bird’s bodies rotting on our streets.
HA runs the story, “Kauai man charged with animal cruelty after cat run over,” on January 7, 2009. I’m sorry. Did somebody actually own this cat? Feral cats are a devastatingly invasive species in Hawaii. The chickens on Kauai are smart enough to get out of the way when a car is bearing down on them. Cats, apparently, are not so smart.
The police report was made by a witness. After they put him in jail, they went back to his house to recover the body from his own trash can. The necropsy showed that “the injuries sustained by the cat were consistent with being run over by a car.” Good work guys!
Did he swerve to hit the cat on a residential street that likely had a lot of potholes and cars parked on the sides? Or did he swerve to avoid the potholes and cars on the residential street where a cat just happened to be? Looks like it’s a question for the jury to answer.
Here’s my prediction. The Father gets 5 to 10 and the daughter spends a year in a psychiatric ward. Rachel gets probation for a year and joins a domestic violence survivors group. Cat-man gets probation for a year and a huge fine, maybe some community service.
It’s already a cruel world. We need to learn how to be nice to each other.
Find out about more crazy people on my web site http://www.mywiferanoffwithourkids.com/.
January 8, 2009 at 8:31 am |
Before you go writing about things you have no idea about, you should get your facts straight. About the woman stabbing the man, it was NOT domestic abuse. I mean how could it be? they weren’t even together. You hurt a lot of people out there when you start you write this kind of shit. John was moving back to Oahu to be with his family and his 4 year old son, and the woman went crazy. She had a history of harassment and violence. John was one of the nicest most generous people to be here. How can you twist the story to pitty her. get your facts straight. RIP john
January 8, 2009 at 9:33 am |
I appreciate your comments. I agree that I have limited information. Most reports from the Honolulu Advertiser are biased and lack information. That is what I am trying to point out.
The sad thing is that many who read this newspaper will jump to conclusions far worse than I have. I don’t know John, but I give him the benefit of being an honorable man and human being capable of making mistakes.
But I have seen the Hawaii Judicial System destroy people’s lives. And I know of some who will take up the cause of this Rachel and make her to be an “abused woman.” That is what scares me.
I may not have facts but I have experience with a system gone awry.
You and I may be on the same page.
January 8, 2009 at 9:05 am |
Look asshole, Im gonna try to say this as politely as I possibly can. But I probably won’t be able to.
You better get your facts straight and do more research than looking up headlines in newspapers before you go out and start publishing your half wit thoughts. The Maui case for example, or how you so insensitively call it “Woman stabs man, Man dies”. First of all, the girl wasn’t his girlfriend, not that you would know, the newspaper say she was. Second, the abuse was vice versa. And third, Ms. Berta has a criminal record did you ever stop to think Rachel was just psycho? Of course not. Which is why I call your thoughts “half wit”. You have no clue what a shit storm this girl will soon be in.
Please ignore the anger you are feeling for my harshly put corrections, and either write the truth, or don’t write at all.
January 8, 2009 at 9:46 am |
I don’t write out of anger. I write out of a desire to see my kids. I write because there are too many people standing in the way of justice. I know psycho women who go to church.
The Honolulu Advertiser creates a bias in every story that involves violence between a man and a woman. In each story, men are perpetrators, women are victims. The opposite is never true.
This helps fuel a domestic violence industry in Hawaii. The industry profits lawyers, judges, psychologists, social workers, and other characters who operate outside Constitutional protections.
Please contact me penumbrook at yahoo.com.
John needs justice. I can help by the experience of some hard lessons learned.
January 8, 2009 at 9:43 am |
Thank you for leaving that comment. I am so glad that there are people out there who don’t automatically believe what they read.
My brother had a great dad, the best we could ever ask for. This woman will never know the man she took him away from all of us. I hope she pays for it for the rest of her life.
January 8, 2009 at 10:06 am |
I have six sisters. I know they would say what you have if I were to suffer as John did.
There are two people at the Honolulu Advertiser who have the editorial freedom to bring John’s story to the public. Rob Perez and Jim Dooley. Perez is extremely biased. Dooley is as fair as a man can be.
Let me know if I can help.
Larry at:
http://www.mywiferanoffwithourkids.com/
January 26, 2009 at 8:23 pm |
It is sad to know that someone’s death, either man or woman, becomes fuel for gossip and speculation. The sad fact is that someone was senselessly murdered. I cannot claim to know the victim or the perpetrator and their life stories. All I can say is that I hope we can take a valuable lesson from this. Anyone, man or woman, can be a victim of domestic violence. If you think you know someone who is being abused, even if he is a man, reach out and provide support. Get them help! Better safe than sorry!
February 12, 2009 at 5:23 am |
Thank you for your comments, tsanders@hscadv.org.
My blog and website are not about gossip or speculation. My stories are about the failure of Hawaii media to report facts and the incredible bias against men. Perhaps you have not yet read my web site. I have been abused. My children are being abused. Yet the Hawaii Family Court has done nothing but put my children in the hands of an abuser.
If a man is being abused, he will not get help, but he will be assumed to be the perpetrator. There is no support for male victims of domestic violence. There is no safe for our children, only sorry.
The HSCADV’s mission is to support women and condemn the men in intimate relationships. Until you understand that women initiate DV as often as men, you will never understand, much less end domestic violence in Hawaii or anywhere. Instead, your mission only perpetuates and, likely, increases DV in Hawaii.
I am sorry that you are so angry that you think this is gossip and speculation. I view it as education. It is long past time to stop the mis-information of the feminist radicals who are destroying families for political gain. When you change your mission statement, perhaps you may begin to help and heal.