Suspects in 2017 murder to be tried together
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OAHU, Hawaii (KITV) — Two suspects connected with a brutal murder on Oahu’s North Shore will be tried together instead of separate trials.
Stephen Brown, 26, and Hailey Kai Dandurand, 23, are charged with kidnapping, burglary and second-degree murder of 51-year-old Sunset Beach teacher Telma Boinville in December 2017.
Brown and Dandurand appeared in court Friday before Judge Rowena Somerville. Both the state prosecutor and Dandurand’s attorney requested separate trial but were denied for “the public interest in efficient use of juridical time,” according to court minutes.
The court agreed that each case had the same evidence and number of witnesses and did not want to subject Boinville’s minor daughter–the only witness to the crime– to testify at two trials.
Her daughter, who was 8-years-old at the time, was found in the house, tied up and her mouth duct-taped, where Boinville was beaten to death with a baseball bat.
Boinville’s daughter told police that one of the suspects had green hair and that Dandurand allegedly told her something to the effect of ‘we killed your mom.’
Last year, Dandurand’s attorney indicated he would pursue a battered spouse defense claiming Brown forced Dandurand to participate in the crime. A judge granted Dandurand a restraining order against Brown, coming within 100 yards of her for the next ten years.
Judge Somerville questioned the relevance of the restraining order three years after the crime or that it would be admissible in trial.
Brown and Dandurand are in custody at O’ahu Correctional Community Center, unable to post bail of $1 million and $500,000, respectively.
The jury trial is set to begin on August 9, 2021.
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