Preliminary Hearing Thursday for Claude and Kawena Krause

Cousins Claude Krause and Kavena Krause of Kurtistown made their first appearance in court today after being charged with the murder of missing Puna man Dante Gilman.

The shackled suspects made separate appearances before District Court Judge Harry Freitas, who ordered that both will continue to be held without bail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday.

Kawena Krause. HPD photo.

Kawena Krause, 19, appeared in court in a T-shirt and baggy, plaid shorts. He was represented by a court-appointed attorney, Christopher Bridges.

The heavily tattooed Claude Krause, 30, was wearing a T-shirt and jeans when he appeared before Freitas.

When he was arrested last week he was out on bail after being charged with a car theft that occurred in mid-August and assault of a police officer that allegedly occurred during his arrest in October.

Krause is a convicted felon who was sentenced to a 10-year prison term in connection with the 2000 sex assault of the late Mayapple McCullough. Krause pleaded guilty in 2001 to burglarizing McCullough’s WaaWaa home  in lower Puna and sexually assaulting her during a second burglary.

McCullough was a founder of Citizens for Justice, a group that advocated for prosecution of those responsible for several high-profile crimes in the early 1990s. The victims in those cases included Dana Ireland, who was run over and sexually assaulted before being left in WaaWaa, and Yvonne Mathison, who was murdered by her police sergeant husband, Ken Mathison, near Mountain View.

McCullough later sued Krause in civil court and was awarded $350,000. She died on the mainland in 2009 at the age of 62.

Both Krauses have been charged with second-degree murder. Gilman’s body has not been found.