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1991 Hawaii man jailed for murder, rape released

Hawaii man jailed in 1991 murder case

By HazimPublished about a year ago 5 min read
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1991 Hawaii man jailed for murder, rape released
Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash

HONOLULU( AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered a man released from captivity incontinently after his attorneys presented new substantiation and argued that he did n’t commit the crimes he was condemned of and spent further than 20 times locked up for the 1991 murder, hijacking and sexual assault of a woman visiting Hawaii.

Albert “ Ian ” Schweitzer, who was condemned in 2000 and doomed to 130 times in captivity, should be “ released from his impediment incontinently, ” Judge Peter Kubota ruled.

That urged applause in the Hilo courtroom and leverages for Schweitzer, who was flown to the Big Island for the hail from the Arizona captivity where he was serving his judgment .

“ My passions were each over the place, ” Schweitzer told the AP during a phone interview in recalling the moment of his release. “ jitters, anxiety, spooked. ”

The justice system is “ defective, ” he said, calling himself one of numerous locked for crimes they did n’t commit. He before told journalists that he was “ thankful ” for the judge doing the “ honorable thing. ”

A solicitation filed late Monday outlined fresh substantiation in one of Hawaii’s biggest murders, which unfolded on Christmas Eve in 1991 on the Big Island.

Dana Ireland, 23, was set up slightly alive in the backwoods along a fishing trail in Puna, a remote section of the islet. She had been sexually assaulted and beaten, and latterly failed at Hilo Medical Center. The mangled bike she had been riding was set up several long hauls down and appeared to have been run into by a vehicle

The rubout of the fair- haired, blue- eyed caller from Virginia gained public attention and remained unsolved for times, putting violent pressure on police to find the killer.

“ Whenever you have a white, womanish victim. it gets a lot further attention than people of color and Native Hawaiians, ” said Kenneth Lawson,co-director of the Hawaii Innocence Project. “ The parents, understandably, were getting more and more rankled.. There was invincible pressure to break this case. And when that happens, miscalculations are made. Some purposeful and some unintentional. ”

Ireland’s cousins could n’t incontinently be reached for comment on the solicitation and Schweitzer’s release. Prosecutors did n’t incontinently note on Schweitzer’s release.

With help from the Innocence Project in New York, theco-counsel in the case, Lawson’s group represented Schweitzer, the last of three Native Hawaiian men condemned in Ireland’s death who had remained locked .

DNA substantiation preliminarily submitted in the case belonged to an unknown man and all three of the condemned men were barred as sources.

New DNA substantiation, according to the solicitation, shows a “ Jimmy Z ” brand T- shirt set up near Ireland and soaked with her blood belonged to the same unknown man, and not to one of the three men, as prosecutors claimed.

also, a new tire tread analysis concluded Schweitzer’s Volkswagen Beetle auto did n’t leave the tire marks at either position where Ireland and her bike were set up. A forensic odontologist also concluded an injury on her left bone was n’t a bitemark, as preliminarily believed, the solicitation said.

“ At a new trial moment, a jury would not condemnMr. Schweitzer ofMs. Ireland’s sexual assault and murder, ” the solicitation said. “ In fact, a prosecutor would probably not indeed arrestMr. Schweitzer for this crime. ”

The liability that all three men shared in a sexual attack and left no trace of natural substantiation — including a lack of substantiation uncovered with advanced forensic testing is “ extraordinarily questionable, ” the solicitation said.

In 2019, Schweitzer’s attorneys and Hawaii County prosecutors entered into a “ conviction integrity agreement ” to elve the case. It was the first time in Hawaii there has been this type of agreement, Lawson said, which is decreasingly being used to reevaluate questionable persuasions and guard against unborn crimes.

“ Over the last three times, we've participated information andre-examined forensic substantiation. No matter the outgrowth in thesepost-conviction proceedings, we remain married to relating unknown joker# 1 and seeking justice for Dana Ireland and her ohana, ” Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen said in a statement before the ruling, using the Hawaiian word for “ family.

still, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Shannon Kagawa asked the judge to deny the solicitation, saying the new substantiation would n’t change the outgrowth of a new trial.

Kubota dissented, saying that grounded on the new substantiation, a jury would acquit Schweitzer.

important of the background on the Ireland case is detailed in a document filed with the solicitation listing data that defense attorneys and prosecutors have quested.

In 1994, police made what they believed to be a major advance. A man facing charges for his part in a cocaine conspiracy communicated police and claimed his half- family, Frank PaulineJr., witnessed Ireland’s attack, according to the quested data document.

Police canvassed Pauline, who was in his third month of a 10- time judgment for an unconnected coitus assault and theft. He claimed sisters Ian and Shawn Schweitzer attacked and killed Ireland. But he was canvassed at least seven times and gave inconsistent accounts each time, ultimately indicting himself, the reservation document said.

Despite the lack of substantiation linking them to the payoff, the two Schweitzers and Pauline were criminated in 1997.

At one point the charges were dismissed because all three men were barred as the source of semen set up in Ireland and on a sanitarium gurney distance. They were criminated again after another snitch claimed Ian Schweitzer confessed to him in jail that Pauline ravished and killed Ireland.

Pauline latterly said he offered details to police about the Ireland murder in order to get medicine charges dropped against his half- family.

In a captivity interview with the A&E show “ American Justice, ” Pauline compared his story to the tale of the boy who cried wolf. “ Was n’t me, ” he said in a strong Hawaii Pidgin accentuation. But when he started telling the verity, he said no bone believed him.

Shawn Schweitzer took a deal to maintain shamefaced to manslaughter and hijacking — and admit credit for about a time served and five times of exploration — after seeing juries condemn Pauline and his family in 2000.

In October, Shawn Schweitzer met with prosecutors and retracted. According to the reservation document, he contended shamefaced because his “ parents didn't want to risk losing another son and encouraged Shawn Schweitzer to do what he demanded to do to come home and not suffer the same fate as his family. ”

Shawn Schweitzer “ continues to feel immense guilt about agreeing to the concession and entering a shamefaced plea for a crime he didn't commit and falsely entwining his family, ” the document said.

A lie detector test in November showed he was telling the verity when he denied any involvement in the murder, the document said.

Pauline was killed in a New Mexico captivity by a fellow capture in 2015.

Being back in Hawaii “ tastes great, ” Schweitzer told the AP.

“ The air is good, ” he said. “ The water is good. ”

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Hazim

"Embarking on a symphony of flavours, wanderlust, and personal growth – tune in for a unique blend of foodie adventures, travel chronicles, and self-discovery vibes."

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