The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-02-23
TaE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDAY. EEBRCARY %.
CircuiT Court OF Hnwaii-SpcciuI Term.

The special term Of the Circuit Court for the
Third Judicial District. ordered by the Chief Jus
tice. for the trial of Paakaula and kahauliko. ac-
cuscd II the murder If Henry Clark. AT Kauhako.
South Kona, Hawaii, on the night of the 18th a..
November last. took place at Waimea. con mcncing
on the eth instant. as per order. His Honor. jus
Jice Davis, of the Supreme Court, presiding. assist
ed by Judge Naiapaakai of the Circuit. The pris-
ouers. who had been confined in Oahu Jail since
their arrest by Sheriff Neville last November. and
had been sent up 10 Waimea by the steamer of the
4th. in charge OF Officer Wills. were arraigned on
Friday morning. the 9Th instant, under an elabo-
rate and very thorough Indictment, prepared by
Attorney General Phillips, who conducted the
prosecution. and both the prisoners pleaded not
guilty. They were very ably defended by W.
Claude Jones, Esq. The trial occupied four whole
days-the jury not being allowed to separate dur
ing that time, and returning a verdict of guilty at
9 o'clock in the evening of Tuesday, after a DELHI
Grafton of three hours. The verdict of guilty of
murder was signed by eleven jurymen-the twelfth
stating that, while he concurred in the verdict as
to Paakaula, he was of the opinion that Kahauliko
should be convicted of manslaughter. \ case of
such grave importance, involving the investigation
of a crime without a parallel in the history of Ha-
waiian Jurisprudence in the point of cold-blooded
dLtoCAtE. NCig hdtuiaily AIiit d great ~ vi
interest. both among foreigners and natives. and
the Court room and the grounds of Judge Lindsay
We're crowded with attentive listeners during the
trial.
As the prisoners were brought into Court, man
acled together, much curiosity was eyinced to get
a view of their features. Paakaula, the younger of
the two, and, as it appears, the leading villain, is a
young, smooth-fsced fellow, very strongly built,
and under the medium size, apparently under
twenty-five, with a we'll formed head Che is a grad
nate of Lahainaluna). but with a bad eye and a
bold expression of countenance. Kahauliko. on
the contrary. is tall and rather slim, with a melan-
choly cOuntenance. about 30. and is evidently of a
more stupid, unreasonIng nature-one of those kind
of villains fitted to become the unquestioning tools
of more ingenious and commanding minds like
that of Paakaula.
The testimony for the prosecution was very
voluminous-too much so for publication in your
journal. The facts, however, appear to have been
these The idea of numbering and robbing Clark
originated with Paakaula. who. after much per-
suasIon, induced kaIauliko to become his accom-
plice. Proceeding at night to the
stands by itself. far removed from any other habit
ation-they remained secreted under n wall until
past midnight, when, lighting. a torch, they went
to the door and called to Clark, telling him that
they had got the man VINO stole his money some
two weeks before. Clark came out, before doing
which, however. he awoke an old native who was
in his employ, and who slept in a hut just i'll the
rear of his own house, and the only person besides
himself on the premises-thus apparently suspect
ing something wrong. This old man thus became
the main witness in identifying Paakaula. who held
the torch, the light of which distinctly revealed his
features. Paakaula told Clark that Kahauliko, who
-. -..t -. -. ,.,.y, $780,.
the thief, whereupon Clark told him to stand up.
and Immediately upon his rising to his feet the
torch was extinguished and Paakaula sprang upon
Clark. bearing him to the ground, and getting both
his (Clark's) legs upon his (Paakaula's) shoulders,
doubled him up. at the same time calling upon
Kahauliko to assist. The latter Immediately
jumped and seized Clark by the throat, choking
him. while the other fend. horrible to relate, &C
tore out his t~esticles, This of course all
took place in 4 very short space I" time, and the
old man (who is between sixty and seventy hav-
ing made an Intellectual attempt to drag KahaulikO
of from his master, started for the nearest village
to give the alarm. In running away he was chased
and stoned by Paakaula. but providentially escaped
in the darkness, and, contrary to the intentions OF
the murderers. lived to become the main instru-
mcnt in procuring their conviction. After the old
man escaped. fear seized upon the most cowardly
Of the Observation-Disclosures ran off home. leaving
the cool, deliberate Paakaula to perform alone the
act in the terrible tragedy. This he accom-
pliShed by dragging the now insensible, though
perharps not quite lieless body of Clark intO-the
store, hcaping upon and about it bags of coffee and
pieces of goods. and setting fire to the whole with
the hope and design thus to obliterate all material
of the crime. 1t makes one shudder to
think that the poor victim may have returned to
consciousness only to die a second death from the
flames of his own house! When the viii
ayers, aroused by the old man, reached the spot.
he roof had fallen in, and most of the interior of
he house was consumed, while on the floor, be-
meath a smouldering pile of coffee and remnants of
pieces of goods. lay the remains of poor Clark, the
,tumps of the bones of his legs and arms protrud-
from the dreadful pyre.
The above account is deduced from the testimony
from the voluntary confessions of the murder
made before the trial. \ very strong and in
,enious attempt was made on the part of the de-
ence to prove an alibi, but the jury, which was
composed of very respectable and intelligent Ha-
yaiians. appear to have weighed the entire testi-
nony very carefully, and with quite as much good
Judgment as could have been evinced by a jury OF
or Americans. The whole proceedings
we're fully and clearly rendered into Hawaiian by
/, competent interpreter, specially employed for
he occasion the pleadings, both of the counsel
or the prisoners and of the Attorney General,
we're able, searching and eloquent; and the charge
# the learned Justice to the jury was extremely
ucid and thorough.
On Thursday morning the prisoners counsel ar
yued before the Court 4 motion for arrest of judg-
nent on various legal and technical grounds. The
notion was however overruled, and on Friday
morning the prisoners were brought up for sen
ence. Paakaula being first called up, Justice
Davis addressed him as follows:
PAAKArLA: You have been charged before this Court with
he highest crime known to the laws Of this or any other civil
zCd couuJry-that Of depuying a fellow being Of life, with