A man suspected of stabbing a woman and killing two Hawaii police officers would record neighbors with a camera mounted to his hat and rig a barbecue grill to blow thick smoke directly into their windows, a lawyer for residents said, The Associated Press informs.
Jaroslav “Jerry” Hanel, facing eviction, stabbed a woman in the leg Sunday before he fired on responding authorities, killing Officers Tiffany Enriquez and Kaulike Kalama, police said. A fire at Hanel’s residence then spread in a normally peaceful neighborhood at the far end of famed Waikiki Beach, an area where attorney David Hayakawa has represented three neighbors in restraining orders against Hanel since 2014. “It was pretty clear he was out of control,” Hayakawa said.
Police had said Hanel is missing but they’re almost certain he is inside the burned house. Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard had said it could take days to process evidence and recover any remains.
Two women were also missing after the fire. Hanel’s lawyer, Jonathan Burge, says property owner Lois Cain’s sister told him Cain was unaccounted for. “She was trying to see whatever information we had because they can’t reach Lois,” Burge said. The sister told him she spoke with the woman who was stabbed, who was one of the tenants of the house, he said.
Cain had recently sought to evict Hanel, who lived in the home for free in exchange for his work, according to court records and his lawyer. Hanel has been described as paranoid and unhinged.
Neighbors complained of bizarre and annoying behavior including Hanel chasing cars down the street, confronting their guests and workers who came to their homes, recording them with a camera mounted to his hat and forcing thick smoke from his barbecue grill directly into their windows, Hayakawa said Monday. “Just crazy things,” he said, AP adds.
He would hide in bushes and watch people and he yelled at tourists who were lost while trying to get to Diamond Head, Hayakawa said. “He was kind of, in his own mind, block security,” Hayakawa said. When a woman who lived in the area would walk her dog or jog past Hanel’s home, “he focused on her and would take her picture,” Hayakawa said.
A judge sided with his clients “every step of the way,” Hayakawa said. “The court granted our motions, listened to us and ruled properly. But there’s only so much a piece of paper can do.”
The homes of two of Hayakawa’s clients were gutted in the fire. He recalled one client telling him Sunday, “nothing that happened to me is anything compared to what happened to these police officer’s families. But when your house is gone and all your possessions, I don’t know how to describe that.”
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