A Marine was sentenced to 26 years for murdering his wife on base as the Army investigates another spouse found dead on Schofield Barracks weeks earlier. Wives are sounding the alarm about the violence and lack of information being provided to the community by military leadership. Staff Sgt. Alonzo Alcantara was sentenced on Sept. 30, 2025, for the murder of his wife, Ruby Tenorio Alcantara, who died just over a year prior, on Sept. 1, 2024. Alcantara admitted in court to using a rear-naked chokehold, a martial arts technique taught by the Marines, to kill his wife during an argument about finances and his legal troubles. But the autopsy report that HNN Investigates obtained shows she had a lot more injuries, indicating Alcantara did more that just a chokehold. The couple’s 8-year-old son witnessed the violence, it was revealed in court, and their younger child was also in the home at the time. The Alcantara children are now living with family members who are struggling to pay the bills. There is a GoFundMe set up to help.
It's a 40-year-old murder mystery. Diane Suzuki, 19, disappeared on July 6, 1985, in broad daylight, at a busy place in Central Oahu.Her attacker had less than 15 minutes to commit the crime and hide her body. In this episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," Lynn Kawano revisits the case from the day she went missing to the failed grand jury proceedings eight years later. The HNN investigative reporter talks to the man Suzuki was planning her life with, and explains why law enforcement won't open the files to clarify rumors that have swirled for decades. Listen for exclusive bonus content not available anywhere else.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," we talk to the former assistant director of HSI's Honolulu office. John Tobon is a founding member of the agency, which started after the 9-11 attacks. He was at the World Trade Center when the planes hit on that day, working for U.S. Customs. Tobon describes his escape, talks about some of the international drug lords he arrested and why he is choosing to stay in Hawaii post-retirement.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Outrage over a proposed $1.5 million settlement for a wrongful death lawsuit could cost taxpayers millions, legal experts say.The family of a South African rugby star, Lindani Myeni, is suing the city and the officers who shot Myeni, killing him in 2021. The officers were also injured by Myeni during the incident.Honolulu police, the mayor, and city prosecutor were among many who opposed a settlement. Their testimony convinced the Honolulu council to reject the deal, opting instead to go to trial.In this podcast, Lynn Kawano gives us both sides of the battle, including why city attorneys pushed to settle, why they were met with strong resistance, and the unexpected potential impacts on the officers involved.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The man behind the DNA discovery in the Dana Ireland case said Hawaii County police had enough to arrest the suspect on July 19. Instead, Albert Lauro, Jr., was released and committed suicide four days later. Stephen Kramer, a former federal prosecutor and the man who co-founded the FBI’s forensic genealogy team, said a DNA match from the national database CODIS was enough probable cause to arrest Lauro for Ireland’s 1991 murder.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Over the last two years, dozens of Oahu drivers have been arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence with breathalyzer results of 0.00 — meaning no alcohol showed as present in their system, HNN Investigates has found. In the latest episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," Lynn Kawano speaks to a driver who was arrested despite being sober and gets a new response from HPD to her exclusive investigation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
After nearly two days of deliberation, a federal jury returned a not guilty verdict in the sprawling bribery case against Keith Kaneshiro, Honolulu’s longest-serving prosecutor. In the latest episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," Lynn Kawano talks to the jury foreman in the case, who said while he knew there was "something wrong," the evidence presented didn't back up the government's allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Every year, thousands of Hawaii residents leave the islands for opportunities and economic relief on the continent. Many end up in Las Vegas, now home away from home for a considerable contingent of Hawaii transplants, including Native Hawaiians. In “Priced Out of Paradise,” HNN investigative reporter Lynn Kawano puts a fresh spotlight on the thriving Hawaii community she found in the Ninth Island.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
First responders are being called to overdoses daily in Hawaii as fentanyl takes hold across the state. And stopping the drug pipeline won’t be easy, experts say. To understand the crisis, HNN Investigates traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a new series exploring the heavy toll of fentanyl in the islands. Anthony Chrysanthis, the deputy special agent in charge of the DEA’s Los Angeles field office, said just about all of the fentanyl and methamphetamine in Hawaii are made in clandestine labs in Mexico run by the cartels.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
HNN Investigative Reporter Lynn Kawano takes you behind the scenes of a story that's rocked Hawaii's football community: Two former Hawaii football players making headlines as college starters have agreed to settle a civil lawsuit stemming from a criminal, sex assault case that was handled in juvenile court. Jayden de Laura, the starting quarterback at the University of Arizona and Kamoi Latu, the starting safety at the University of Wisconsin, agreed to pay a woman who said she was raped by the players on October 27, 2018, after the St. Louis Crusaders beat Punahou in the ILH championship game. The girl was 16 years old at the time. Both boys were underage, too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On the afternoon of Christmas Eve 1991, 23-year-old Dana Ireland left her parents’ home in Puna for a bike ride and never returned. Good Samaritans called 911 after finding her mangled bicycle, a shoe, and clumps of hair ― but no rider. Thirty minutes later and five miles away, Ireland was found in the bushes of a fishing trail, nude from the waist down and barely conscious. She died at the hospital from blood loss and multiple traumatic injuries. A decade later, three Hawaii Island men would be convicted for her murder, the shocking details of which reverberated around the entire state. But the story doesn’t end there: An exoneration based in large part on advances in DNA technology turned the Dana Ireland murder into a cold case rather than a solved one.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Eloy, Arizona is in the middle of the desert ― about an hour from Phoenix. It’s a sharp contrast from Hawaii. But it’s where 1,000 Hawaii inmates are currently housed at Saguaro Correctional Center, a facility the state pays millions to each year to relieve overcrowding at in-state facilities. Hawaii News Now was the only television news crew allowed inside since it was built in 2007 to ease overcrowding in the islands.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Newly unsealed court documents include disturbing new allegations in the murder case against Michael Miske, the businessman accused of running a criminal enterprise. Miske is accused in the kidnapping and murder of 21-year old Johnathan Fraser. The previously secret filings also link the murder case to the killing of another man, a confidential source who knew the information he provided law enforcement put him in danger.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Russian spies in Hawaii? That's the allegations from the U.S. Attorney's office. Prosecutors say a couple from Kapolei are accused of stealing the identities of dead babies from Texas in the 1980s, and living under those names for decades. Alongside those accusations are photos of the couple in KGB uniforms. There are doubts though about the spy claims, as the government has retracted some of it's statement about the couple's aliases and reveals new details about the evidence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Can federal laws be the key to shutting down Hawaii's illegal game rooms? Homeland Security Investigations is working with police to attack crimes linked to game rooms and that are a constant source of problems for communities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
After 45 years of service, John McCarthy retired from the Honolulu Police Department last year as deputy chief. In this episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," he explains the circumstances that pushed him out, his frustrations with the department, the public corruption scandal that rocked the department and how all that affects the rank and file.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Juan Tejedor Baron has been extradited back to Hawaii to face charges that he murdered an elderly Hawaii Loa Ridge man and then encased his body in concrete in his own bathtub. The case has shocked the wealthy community, and experts say there are certain to be more twists and turns in the case.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
With the capture Wednesday of the two Hawaii Loa Ridge murder suspects, authorities are turning their attention to the investigation ― and a possible motive.Scott Hannon, 34, and Juan Tejedor Baron, 23, were nabbed in the Los Angeles area following an intense manhunt. They’re suspected in the grisly murder of an East Honolulu man, whose body was found encased in concrete in the bathtub of his multi-million-dollar home in a gated community.To better understand all the dizzying details of the case, HNN’s Digital Desk sat down with investigative reporter Lynn Kawano to piece together the timeline so far and understand what’s next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Three former city executives are preparing for trial after being indicted for conspiracy. The three all had a hand in the $250,000 payoff of ex-Police Chief Louis Kealoha, who is now serving time in federal prison. The only police commissioner who was against that payoff has a message: "This didn't have to happen."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The first book is out about the largest public corruption scandal in state history. It's called "The Mailbox Conspiracy" and is written by the man who uncovered the Kealohas' crimes. In this episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," HNN's investigative reporter Lynn Kawano sits down with former federal public defender Alexander Silvert to talk about the Kealoha scandal and what he hopes Hawaii will learn from it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.