The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-05-09

Francisco ortega Morella, alias Mol.
lima, the Spaniard who shot and killed
Francisco Comes. Pedro, the night
Waterman of the Naalehu plantation,
in Kau, Hawaii, on August IA, 1916,
was allowed to plead guilty last Friday
before Circuit Judge Matthewman in
kailua, Kona, to the charge of second
degree murder. Morello was sentenced
to not less than twenty years impris.
Onment at hard labor, the maximum be-
ing life. 50
Sheriff Samuel X. Pua of Hawai-
brought the convicted Spaniard TO Ho.
nolulu yesterday from the Big Island
and turned him over to High Sheriff
jarrett, who added the murderer to his
gang of time-servers in Oahu prison.
Great indignation prevails through.
out the Big Island over the manner the
Morello case was conducted, according
to passengers who arrived from Hawaii
in the MauIa Kea yesterday morning.
Deed Was Gold -Blooded
without provocation, it is claimed,
Morello shot and killed the night watch
man at Naalehu. The crime was as
cold blooded one as has been commit
ted in the Territory in many years, it
is alleged. Morello, after his bloody
deed, made his escape and when corn
cred held up a number of officers and
other citizens, who chased him after
the deed, at the point of a gun. He
was well armed and had an ample sup.
ply of ammunition with him. He made
good his escape and it was only after
many months that he was taken, the
Kona grand jury indicting him on a
charge of first degree murder, which
meant that had he been tried and con-
victed on that charge he would have
been sentenced to pay for his crime
with his life.
County Attorney Beers and his dep
uty, J. W. Russell, were at Kailua on
Friday, when iMorello 8 case was called
up for trial Morello offered to plead
guilty to second degree murder and his
offer was accepted. He was sentenced
under this lesser charge.
Indignation Is General
at simply means this said Big
Islander who came to Honolulu yester-
day, "that the Hawaii county prose-
cutting officials shirked their duty and
rather than be put to the trouble of
fighting the case on trial let it go on
the offer of the murderer to plead
guilty TO secOnddcgree murder. 1t
saved the officials lot of trouble, it
must he admitted, but it cannot be said
that they had a weak case and feared
the outcome. The case was so plain
that there would have been no difficulty
in finding MOrello guilty of rst degree
murder, in which case he would have
been sentenced as he deserved and
still deserves, and that is, to hang for
his foul crime
"It rankles, all right enough, and
on Hawaii there is great Indignation
among all classes of people. Beers and
Russell come in fOr1 much criticism
That they shirked their duty is the
consensus of opinion
Sheriff Pua, when seen yesterday
shortly before returning to HilO, was
reticent as TO comment in the MOrCllO
case. That he was not satisfied with
the way the case went finally, was evi-
dent. 10.
Sheriff Pua Disappointed
"YOu don't expect me to say any
thing against my brother officials, do
youf" he asked. "If you ask me
whether Morello should have been tried
on the greater charge l will say that
is what should have been done. He
would have been found guilty and hung
for his crime.
"MorellO is bad hOmbre. His
crime was inexcusable and he defed the
whole police force of Hawaii for
months. In fact, number of my Off.
ha1 from no I'M
shot by him. But, then, you see,
have nothing to do with case after
it is turned over to the county attor-
ney's departent.
sheriff Pua says he knew Morcllo
was in Jail several months before he
WAS finally discovered as the murderer.
Knew Morello Was In Jail
~ put him in Jail myself he told
The Advertiser reporter on the Mauna
Kea wharf yesterday. "Therc is my
daughter and my daughter-in'law,"
Pua pointed to these two members of
his family who were down to see him
off. ASK them If they were not with
me when ] took MorellO and landed
him in Jail on January IS of this year
and later, on March 20, took him to
the HOokena iail2"
"Ycs ! had II motive, and good
one, for keeping from the public the
foct that MoreIlo was in the custody
of the pOlice.''
While Pua would not commit himself
further. it was learned that during the
time Morello was supposed TO be ut
large the police were working up
case against a number of people known
to have harbored the fugitive in sevc-
raj districts of the Big Island while
the murderer was at large.
Murderer's Friends Watched
Appeals presumed to have come from
Morcllo, were sent out in different sec.
tions, while the police watched results.
These tailed with information the of
Rrers had received previously, 1t is
believed that the net will be drawn
shortly and that number of Big Isl.