In 1987, twenty-six-year-old Lynn Ebisuzaki left a friend’s home in Hilo and never made it back. Hours later, her car was found burned on a remote road, and her body was discovered nearby. Decades have passed, but the person responsible for her murder has never been found. This episode revisits her story, the town that still remembers, and the silence that continues to haunt Hawaii’s Big Island.
Sources:
Hawaii Tribune-Herald archives (1987–1988 coverage)
Honolulu Advertiser reports
Hawaii County Police Department public cold case files
Historical research on late-1980s Hilo investigations and community responses
Special Thanks:
A mahalo to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald and Honolulu Advertiser for their archived reporting, and to Hawaii County Police for preserving open case records that help keep Lynn’s story alive.
A special mahalo to Yoza for her song Obsession—the sound that carries us through these shadows. Find her on Instagram @yozamusic and at yozamusic.com.
If you have any information about the murder of Lynn Ebisuzaki, contact Hawaii County Police at (808) 935-3311 or CrimeStoppers at (808) 961-8300. Anonymous tips can be submitted at hawaiicrimestoppers.net.
#BeneathThePalms #TrueCrimeHawaii #LynnEbisuzaki #Hilo #HawaiiColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #CrimePodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #MissingJustice #AkuBoneMedia #SoDoesHope
In 1973, 25-year-old Gayle Hook was found shot near the shoreline of South Kona. No weapon. No witnesses. And no answers.
Half a century later, her case remains one of Hawaii’s forgotten murders—a story swallowed by the tide and erased by time.
This episode explores her final night, the investigation that went nowhere, and how early-1970s Hawaii—on the edge of a tourism boom—was unprepared for the darkness that surfaced beneath the palms.
Sources:– Honolulu Advertiser archives (1973)– Hawaii Tribune-Herald archives (1973–1974)– Hawaii County Police historical case files– Local oral histories from South Kona residents
Mahalo: To the archivists and community members who keep these memories alive. And a special mahalo to Yoza, whose song Obsession carries this story. Follow her on Instagram @yozamusic or visit yozamusic.com.
If you have information about the unsolved murder of Gayle Hook, contact CrimeStoppers Honolulu or the Hawaii County Police Department.
#BeneathThePalms #TrueCrimeHawaii #UnsolvedMurders #HawaiiPodcast #GayleHook #SouthKona #Hilo #ColdCase #HawaiiHistory #TrueCrimeCommunity #PodcastSeries #YozaMusic #Obsession #DarknessMayLingerButSoDoesHope
In the 1970s, a former Marine and Hollywood restaurateur named Father Yod led more than a hundred followers from Los Angeles to the islands of Hawaii, chasing a vision of spiritual freedom. What began as The Source Family—a commune built on vegetarian living, music, and mysticism—soon became a story of control, devotion, and the search for transcendence.
This episode explores the rise of the Source Family, their move across the Pacific, and the mysterious final chapter that unfolded along the cliffs of Oahu. From celebrity fame on Sunset Boulevard to isolation in Lanikai, this is the story of belief, power, and the cost of surrender.
🎧 Featuring archival research, verified accounts, and the haunting echoes of those who lived it.
🎵 With music by Yoza — “Obsession.”
If you value the work behind Beneath the Palms, follow the show on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon, and consider joining us on Patreon for bonus episodes and behind-the-scenes content.
#BeneathThePalms #TrueCrime #Hawaii #CultStories #FatherYod #SourceFamily #Oahu #Lanikai #LosAngeles #Spirituality #MysteryPodcast #PodcastSeries #CrimePodcast #HawaiiHistory #BeneathThePalmsPodcast #AkuBoneMedia
In July 2021, 76-year-old Michael Rosenbaum disappeared from Pahoa. Nine days later, a fisherman spotted a body below the lava cliffs at MacKenzie State Recreation Area. It wasn’t an accident. He’d been shot.
Four years on, the case is still open. No arrests. No suspects named. We trace the timeline, the gaps, and the silence that still hangs over Puna—and we ask for the one detail that could turn this into justice.
Know something? Call Hawaii Island CrimeStoppers at (808) 961-8300. You can remain anonymous.
Sources
Hawaii Police Department – “Police Seek Leads in July 2021 Puna Murder” (June 30, 2025): https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/police-seek-leads-in-july-2021-puna-murder
Hawaii News Now – “Hawaii Island police seek leads in 2021 unsolved murder” (June 30, 2025): https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/01/hawaii-island-police-seek-leads-2021-unsolved-murder/
Big Island Now – “Police seek leads regarding an unsolved murder…” (June 30, 2025): https://bigislandnow.com/2025/06/30/police-seek-leads-regarding-an-unsolved-murder-from-nearly-four-years-ago/
HPD Media Release (Nov 14, 2023): https://www.hawaiipolice.com/11-14-23-police-renew-request-for-leads-in-july-2021-murder-of-elderly-puna-man
Big Island Video News (Jul 17, 2023): https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2023/07/17/police-seeking-leads-in-july-2021-murder-of-michael-rosenbaum/
#BeneathThePalms #Hawaii #Puna #Pahoa #BigIsland #MacKenzie #ColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #TrueCrime #CrimeStoppers
April 12, 2007. On a quiet road in Pupukea, twenty-one-year-old Masumi Watanabe — shy, gentle, and far from her home on Sado Island, Japan — was last seen alive. Neighbors heard her cry out, a single word: “No.”
By nightfall, she was missing.
What followed was an island-wide search, the discovery of her glasses and blood in a pest control truck, a midnight witness at Kahana Bay, and a trial that would expose impossible lies. A jury found Kirk Matthew Lankford guilty of second-degree murder, and the Hawaii Paroling Authority set a record 150-year minimum.
Yet Masumi has never been found. Her parents still return to Hawaii, pleading for one thing: to bring their daughter home.
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Sources for this episode include:Hawaii News NowThe Honolulu Star-BulletinThe Honolulu AdvertiserThe Charley ProjectfindMasumi.orgHawaii court records
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Special mahalo to Yoza for her song Obsession — a piece that carries the ache and weight of Masumi’s story.
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#MasumiWatanabe #HawaiiCrime #TrueCrime #NorthShore #Oahu #Unsolved #MissingPersons #BeneathThePalms
Some stories never fade. In 1977, sixteen-year-old Dawn Momohara, a sophomore at McKinley High, was found murdered inside her own school. For nearly half a century, her case sat cold. Families carried the silence. A city carried the fear.
Then, in 2025, science caught up with the past. DNA pulled her name back into the headlines. A man was arrested—then released. Justice, almost within reach, slipped away once more.
This Legacy episode returns to Dawn’s story with more clarity, more depth, and the weight of everything that has happened since we first told it. It is a story about innocence, about silence, and about the fight to remember a girl who never got the chance to grow old.
This story was built on police files, court records, investigative journalism, and reporting from Hawaii’s local newsrooms who refused to let her case be forgotten. Every fact here stands on their shoulders.
If you have information that could help this case, contact Honolulu Police, or call CrimeStoppers at 808-955-8300. Even now, every detail matters.
Mahalo to Yoza, whose music carries us through every episode.
Because darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.
#BeneathThePalms #TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiCrime #ColdCase #JusticeForDawn #McKinleyHigh #Hawaii
Christmas Eve, 1975. Kailua.
Twenty-seven-year-old Ingrid “Lori” Ostrenga was found strangled in her home, an electrical cord around her neck. Police noted she was a dancer at a Honolulu nightclub called El Morocco, and an avid horseback rider on Oahu’s Windward side.
Her name appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin once, on January 1, 1976. And then—it disappeared from the public record.
Almost fifty years later, her case is still unsolved. HPD keeps her listed on their Cold Case page, waiting for someone to come forward.
Some details about Lori’s life—like a possible birth date, a middle name, and even her burial place—come only from community listings and have not been verified through official records. We’ve flagged those in this episode, because telling her story means sharing what we know, and acknowledging what we don’t.
If you knew Lori, her family, or remember the El Morocco club or Kailua’s horse circles in the 1970s, we invite you to reach out. Even a single memory might matter.
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Sources for this episode include:Honolulu Police Department Cold Case UnitHawaiʻi Crime Victims Compensation Commission (case 76-51)Honolulu Star-Bulletin archivesPublic obituaries of the Ostrenga family
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Follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon. For visuals and updates, join us on Instagram and YouTube. To walk further with us, bonus episodes and behind-the-scenes content are on Patreon at Beneath the Palms Podcast.
—#BeneathThePalmsPodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #UnsolvedMurder #ColdCase #IngridOstrenga #LoriOstrenga #Kailua #Honolulu #HawaiiPodcast #TrueCrimeCommunity
Two crews. One parking lot. And in broad daylight at a city golf course, a handshake turned into gunfire.
On January 7, 2004, Lepo Utu Taliese, his brother Tino Sao, and Romelius “Junior” Corpuz Jr. met with rivals Ethan “Malu” Motta, Rodney Joseph Jr., and Kevin “Pancho” Gonsalves outside the Pali Municipal Golf Course. Within minutes, golfers dove for cover as 13 to 18 shots echoed across the fairway. Taliese and Corpuz Jr. lay dead. Sao survived a bullet to the face. And Taliese, collapsing on the grass, used his dying breath to name his killers.
What followed was more than a murder case. It became one of Hawaiʻi’s biggest organized crime trials — a federal RICO prosecution that put defendants away for life and reshaped the city’s gambling underworld.
This is a story of families shattered, turf wars over illegal gambling rooms, and the violence that spilled into a public space where no one expected it.
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Sources for this episode include:The Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Hawaii News Now archives, federal court filings, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
—
Follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon.
For visuals and updates, join us on Instagram and YouTube.
And if you’d like to walk further with us, you can find bonus episodes and support on Patreon at Beneath the Palms Podcast.
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#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #PaliGolfCourse #HawaiiPodcast #HawaiiHistory #TrueCrimePodcasts #HawaiiTrueCrimePodcast #OrganizedCrime #TrueCrimeCommunity #HawaiiCrime
On January 20, 1982, nineteen-year-old Lisa Au left her boyfriend’s apartment in Makiki during a heavy storm. By morning, her car was found abandoned on the Kahekili Highway—window down, purse untouched, seat pushed back too far for her small frame. Ten days later, Lisa’s body was discovered in a Tantalus ravine.
No weapon. No cause of death. No one ever charged.
Her case shook Hawaii, sparking fears of police impersonation and leaving her family with decades of unanswered questions. In this newly remastered legacy episode, we return to Lisa’s story with deeper research, greater compassion, and a renewed call for justice.
Sources:
Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Hawaii News Now archives, KHON2 News, KITV4, Civil Beat reporting, and HPD public records.
Mahalo & Thanks:
To the Au family for keeping Lisa’s memory alive, to local journalists who never let her story fade, and to Yoza for her track Obsession, which carries us through the shadows.
#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #LisaAu #ColdCase #UnsolvedMurder #Honolulu #TrueCrimePodcasts #HawaiiCrime #JusticeForLisa
Three lives ended in minutes on a quiet ridge above Honolulu.
A taxi driver, Jason and Colleen Takamori, and the Tantalus Lookout — a place known for romance and city views — became the center of one of Hawaii’s most shocking crimes.
On July 6, 2006, the Tantalus triple murder unfolded with chilling precision. A cab ride, a married couple’s evening out, and suddenly, three lives stolen execution-style. Hours later, the violence escalated to a home invasion and car theft that terrified Honolulu through the night. The suspect was caught — but instead of trial and sentencing, the story turned toward mental illness, courtroom delays, and a ruling of permanent unfitness to stand trial.
This is the Honolulu triple murder that left families without justice, and cast a shadow over one of Oahu’s most beautiful lookouts.
—Sources for this episode include:The Honolulu AdvertiserThe Honolulu Star-BulletinHawaii News NowTaxi Library Memorial for Manh Nguyen
—Follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon.For visuals and updates, join us on Instagram and YouTube.
And if you’d like to walk further with us, you can find bonus episodes and support on Patreon at Beneath the Palms Podcast.
—#HawaiiTrueCrime #Honolulu #TantalusLookout #TripleMurder #UnsolvedJustice #BeneathThePalmsPodcast
Today, we’re bringing you something different. A special preview from our sister podcast, Shadows of Siam — a series that dives deep into Thailand’s darkest crimes, mysteries, and legends.
This story is about Si Quey Sae-Ung, a man whose name became a warning whispered into the ears of children for generations:
“If you misbehave, Si Quey will come. And he’ll eat your liver.”
Accused of killing children in the 1950s, executed in 1959, and displayed behind glass for over sixty years, Si Quey became more than a man. He became Thailand’s most feared bogeyman.
What you’ll hear today is just the beginning of his story. To hear the full episode — including his trial, the cannibal myth, and the decades he spent embalmed as a museum exhibit — head over to Shadows of Siam.
New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM Thailand time.
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Follow Beneath the Palms here for new episodes every Thursday at 7 AM HST.
Follow Shadows of Siam for new episodes every Tuesday at 7 AM Thailand time.
#BeneathThePalms #ShadowsOfSiam #TrueCrimePodcast #ThailandCrime #SiQuey #CannibalKiller #UrbanLegends #TrueCrimeCommunity #PodcastPreview #ColdWarHistory
On July 6, 1985, nineteen-year-old Diane Suzuki finished teaching dance at the Rosalie Woodson Academy in Aiea. She was supposed to meet friends at Turtle Bay that afternoon. Her car was still in the lot. Her purse and keys were left behind. Diane never made it out the door.
The community searched through the night. Police questioned classmates, instructors, and the photographer who lingered at the studio. A trunk seen carried out. Scratches on his arms. A failed polygraph. Luminol in the bathroom. Suspicions piled high — but no body, no eyewitness, no charges.
Nearly forty years later, Diane’s family still waits. Vigils have been held. Laws have been changed. Her name has traveled from Hawaii to Unsolved Mysteries and America’s Most Wanted. Yet her case remains one of the islands’ most haunting disappearances.
This is Diane’s story — retold and remastered — not to replace the past, but to honor her, and to bring her case forward in the way it was always meant to be heard.
If you know anything about the disappearance of Diane Suzuki, please contact Honolulu CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300, the Honolulu Police Department at (808) 529-3111, or visit NamUs.gov.
—Follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon.Find visuals and updates on Instagram and YouTube.Bonus content and behind-the-scenes are available on Patreon.
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Sources for this episode include:Hawaii News Now’s Who Killed Diane Suzuki?Honolulu Star-Bulletin archivesKHON2 News coverageThe Charley ProjectPBS Hawaii’s What School You Went? Podcast
Unsolved Mysteries and America’s Most Wanted
Mahalo to the journalists, investigators, and the Suzuki family for keeping Diane’s name alive.
#DianeSuzuki #HawaiiCrime #MissingPerson #ColdCase #UnsolvedMystery #TrueCrimePodcast #BeneathThePalms
Seventeen years old. A red roadster. A boy who couldn’t take no for an answer.
In 1932, Margaret Enos of Hilo said no to a marriage proposal — and paid the price with her life at the edge of Halemau'mau' crater. What followed blurred the line between crime and myth: whispers of Pele’s fury, a tidal wave in Hilo Bay, and one of the strangest rescues ever attempted in Hawaii.
This is a story of youth and obsession, of violence carried to sacred ground, and of the quiet courage of a man who risked everything to bring two souls back from Pele’s fire.
—
Sources for this episode include:
The Chicago Tribune archives (1932)
The Fresno Bee (1932)
The Stanford Daily (1932)
Peter T. Young’s Images of Old Hawaii
—
Follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon.
For visuals and updates, join us on Instagram and YouTube.
And if you’d like to walk further with us, you can find bonus episodes and support on Patreon at Beneath the Palms Podcast.
On March 10, 2006, in the heart of Honolulu, thirty-one-year-old Jason Nam was washing his car in his apartment garage. Three masked men pulled up in a stolen Nissan Maxima. A baseball bat. A handgun. A single shot.
By nightfall, the getaway car was torched in Mililani. A mask had slipped, a composite sketch was drawn, and an anonymous voice called CrimeStoppers. And then — nothing.
Nearly twenty years later, Jason’s family is still waiting for answers. His fiancée Sandra still remembers the phone call that shattered her life: “Jason’s been shot.” His parents, Michael and Alicia, continue to plead for closure.
This is Jason’s story — retold and remastered — not to replace the past, but to honor him, and to bring his case forward in the way it was always meant to be heard.
If you know anything about the murder of Jason Nam, please contact Honolulu CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300 or visit honolulucrimestoppers.org.
—Follow Beneath the Palms on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon.
Find visuals and updates on Instagram and YouTube.Bonus content and behind-the-scenes are available on Patreon.
—
Honolulu Advertiser archives (2006, 2016)
Honolulu Star-Bulletin archives (2006)
Honolulu Police Department Cold Case Database
Hawaii News Now (2016, 2021 coverage)
KHON2 (2006, 2016)
Mahalo to all the local journalists and CrimeStoppers volunteers who have kept Jason’s story alive.
#JasonNam #HawaiiCrime #UnsolvedMurder #ColdCase #Honolulu #TrueCrimePodcast #BeneathThePalms
She was an experienced wildlife biologist.
A surfer. A camper. Someone who knew Maui’s rugged coastline better than most. And on February 21, 2010, Laura Vogel texted a friend to say she was camped near the Pauwela Lighthouse, “meeting all the locals.”
By morning, her van sat by the trail.
Keys in the ignition.
Surfboards waiting.
Her wallet and phone gone.
Searchers found a sandal near the cliff’s edge. Pieces of her phone scattered in the brush. And two unexplained calls to a transient man camping nearby.
Laura was gone.
No body. No arrest.
Only theories — accident, foul play, or a voluntary disappearance her friends say makes no sense.
Fifteen years later, the cliffs still hold their silence.
And her family is still waiting for answers.
—
Sources for this episode include:
The Charley Project, NamUs, Maui Now, Maui News, public statements from the Maui Police Department, and coverage from Hawaii’s missing persons bulletins.
—
🎧 Follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon.
đź“ş Subscribe on YouTube @BeneathThePalmsPodcast
📸 Follow us on Instagram @BeneathThePalmsPodcast
If you have information about the disappearance of Laura Vogel, contact CrimeStoppers Maui at 808-242-6966 or the Maui Police Department.
—
Darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.
#TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #LauraVogel #MauiMystery #UnsolvedCase #PauwelaLighthouse #MissingPerson #BeneathThePalmsPodcast #HawaiiCases #HawaiiMissing
Portlock, Hawaii. Money buys ocean views… and the illusion of silence.
But behind one immaculate set of gates, federal agents say they found something far more dangerous than luxury.
Malia Arciero was an “elite madam” with a black book that could ruin reputations — and, according to prosecutors, a meth network that moved pounds of high-purity ice across Oahu.
Her case exposed whispers of corruption, claims of misconduct by a federal agent, and secrets powerful people prayed would never surface.
Some of it was proven in court. Some of it was recanted. And some — like the names in those black books — has never seen the light of day.
Sources for this episode include:
U.S. Department of Justice
Federal court filings and appellate decisions
Hawaii Reporter investigative reporting
Mahalo, as always, to Yoza for the song Obsession, which closes every episode.
Darkness may linger beneath the palms. But so does hope.
#truecrime #truecrimecommunity #truecrimepodcast #truecrimeaddict #truecrimeobsessed #hawaiipodcast #hawaiistories #hawaiihistory #hawaiicrime #hawaiicrimepodcast #truecrimehawaii #methtrafficking #organizedcrime #federalcourt #drugtrafficking #crimestory #unsolved #crimemystery #truecrimestories #beneaththepalms
They lived in a quiet cul-de-sac in Kapolei.
He was a friendly former military man.
She was soft-spoken, a little distant.
The kind of couple who never caused trouble.
But the names on their IDs weren’t theirs.
In fact, they belonged to two Texas infants who had died more than fifty years earlier.
For decades, Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison built new lives in Hawaii under those stolen identities — joining the Coast Guard, securing security clearances, even collecting U.S. government paychecks.
Then came the day federal agents knocked.
Inside their home, investigators found not just forged documents and passports, but faded photos of the couple wearing what looked like KGB uniforms… and bottles of invisible ink.
Were they spies? Or just two people who vanished into new names for reasons no one could ever quite prove?
This is the story of a thirty-five-year deception that fooled neighbors, the military, and even the government — until the tide finally turned.
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Sources for this episode include federal court filings in Honolulu, transcripts from the couple’s 2023 trial, sentencing records from March 2024, investigative reporting from the Associated Press and Hawaii News Now, and archival Texas birth and death records confirming the identities of the real Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague.
—
🎧 Follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon.
đź“ş Subscribe on YouTube @BeneathThePalmsPodcast
📸 Follow us on Instagram at @BeneathThePalmsPodcast
If you have information about historical cases in Hawaii or untold stories worth investigating:
📞 Contact CrimeStoppers Honolulu — 808-955-8300
đź“© Or message us directly on Instagram.
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Darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.
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#TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #IdentityTheft #ColdWarMystery #BeneathThePalmsPodcast #HawaiiHistory #UnsolvedMystery #Kapolei #Espionage #KGB #HawaiiCrime
She was one of the wealthiest women in America.
A co-founder of Stanford University. A widow. A fighter.
And in 1905, she came to Waikiki to rest—to recover from a poisoning attempt back home.
But on her second night at the Moana Hotel, Jane Stanford collapsed.
Her body convulsed. Her jaw locked.
And by the time the doctor arrived, it was already too late.
The coroner called it murder.
The Honolulu jury agreed.
But when her body was shipped back to California, the truth was buried.
Records vanished. Reports were rewritten. And the story was sanitized—until now.
This is the true story of Jane Stanford, the power struggle she refused to surrender, and the final silence that swallowed her name.
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Sources for this episode include:
The 1905 Honolulu coroner’s inquest, testimony from Dr. Robert W. Emerson, archives of the Honolulu Advertiser and Pacific Commercial Advertiser, and historian Richard White’s research in Jane Stanford’s Murder and the Unmaking of a University.
—
🎧 Follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon.
đź“ş Subscribe on YouTube @BeneathThePalmsPodcast
📸 Follow us on Instagram at @BeneathThePalmsPodcast
—
If you have information about historical cases in Hawaii or untold stories worth investigating:
📞 Contact CrimeStoppers Honolulu — 808-955-8300
đź“© Or message us directly on Instagram.
—
Darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.
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#TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #JaneStanford #StanfordUniversity #UnsolvedMystery #HonoluluHistory #MoanaHotel #HistoricalCrime #MurderPodcast #BeneathThePalmsPodcast #1905Crime #WomenInHistory #CoverUp
He’d already killed two women.
Twice, the system let him go.
And in 1995, when Doneshia “RoxAnne” Kastner begged for help—filed reports, got a restraining order, called the police—no one stopped him.
He followed her to her car.
Left her notes she never wanted.
And one night… he let himself in.
RoxAnne saw the danger. She tried to protect her son. She did everything the system said she should.
But no one listened.
And by the time they did—it was too late.
This is the true story of Doneshia “RoxAnne” Kastner—and how the system failed her in the final, fatal warning.
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Sources for this episode include:
Honolulu Star-Bulletin archives (1959–1995)
The Honolulu Advertiser editorials on domestic violence legislation
Hawaii State Judiciary court records and parole transcripts
Testimony excerpts preserved by DVAC and WomenSpeak Hawaii
Hawaii Revised Statutes on victim notification and parole reform
—
🎧 Follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon.
đź“ş Subscribe on YouTube.
📸 Follow us on Instagram at @BeneathThePalmsPodcast
—
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence in Hawaii, contact:
CrimeStoppers Honolulu — 808-955-8300
HPD Domestic Violence Detail — 808-723-3609
National Domestic Violence Hotline — 800-799-SAFE
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Darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.
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#TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #DomesticViolenceAwareness #BeneathThePalmsPodcast #EugeneBarrett #HawaiiCrime #MurderPodcast #StalkingAwareness #RoxAnneKastner #TrueCrimeCommunity
In 1959, Eugene Barrett shot his ex-wife, Annie Eva Phillips, after stalking and threatening her for months.
He served just eight years.
In 1971, he killed again—shooting his girlfriend Cecily “Cece” Guerrero in the back after a violent argument.
And again… he got out.
By the 1990s, Barrett was living quietly in Makiki. Smiling at neighbors. Painting flowers. Hiding in plain sight.
He wasn’t supposed to be free.
But Hawaii’s broken system gave him two chances.
And the next time he snapped—there’d be no warning.
This is the true story of Eugene Barrett’s first two murders—and the warning signs Hawaii chose to ignore.
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Sources for this episode include:
Honolulu Star-Bulletin archives (1959–1995)
The Honolulu Advertiser editorials on domestic violence legislation
Hawaii State Judiciary court records and parole transcripts
Testimony excerpts preserved by DVAC and WomenSpeak Hawaii
Hawaii Revised Statutes on victim notification and parole reform
—
🎧 Follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon.
đź“ş Subscribe on YouTube.
📸 Follow us on Instagram at @BeneathThePalmsPodcast
—
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence in Hawaii, contact:
CrimeStoppers Honolulu — 808-955-8300
HPD Domestic Violence Detail — 808-723-3609
National Domestic Violence Hotline — 800-799-SAFE
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Darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.
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#TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiTrueCrime #DomesticViolenceAwareness #BeneathThePalmsPodcast #EugeneBarrett #HawaiiCrime #MurderPodcast #StalkingAwareness #AnnieEvaPhillips #CecilyGuerrero #TrueCrimeCommunity
