Forty-two-year-old Valentine Kapiolani Gonsalves Jr. has been charged with the murder of a body located in a vehicle along Daniel K. Inouye Highway.
The victim has been identified as 25-year-old Keith Nakoa Gonsalves of Hilo. According to the Hawai’i Police Department, an autopsy conducted Wednesday showed that he died from a gunshot wound to the neck.
HPD reports that in addition to the murder charge, Valentine has also been charged in connection to a shooting that happened earlier in the week in Hilo.
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According to authorities, the case began on Monday night just before midnight. South Hilo patrol officers responded to a report of a shooting in the upper Waiakea Uka area of Hilo. There, they found a 47-year-old man who reported that he was threatened during a verbal confrontation by a man in a car outside his home on Alaloa Road
Witnesses in the area told police that a shot was fire and that a vehicle left the area.
Police were unable to locate a shooting victim. A first-degree terroristic threatening investigation was initiated and police began to search for the vehicle.
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Just after 5 a.m. Tuesday, police were led to a silver Honda sports-utility vehicle that was parked against the flow of traffic on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway near the 27 mile marker. In the vehicle, responding officers found an unresponsive man.
Gonsalves was charged Wednesday at 11 p.m. after Area I Criminal Investigations Section detectives conferred with prosecutors. He was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree reckless endangering, possession of a loaded firearm, and use of a firearm in commission of a separate felony.
Police say Gonsalves’ bail was set at $507,000 and he is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Thursday.
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Motorists who may have spotted the silver Honda SUV parked along the highway, who saw a man hitchhiking towards Kona, or who picked up a hitchhiker and taken him to Kona should contact Detective Robert Almeida by calling 961-2386 or e-mailing [email protected]; or Detective Grant Todd by calling 961-2385 or e-mailing [email protected].
Those who prefer to remain anonymous should call the Big Island Crime Stoppers number at 961-8300.
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