Diane Suzuki
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Diane Suzuki was a nineteen-year old dancer and student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who disappeared on July 6, 1985, and has since been the focus of one of the most notorious modern criminal investigations in the history of the state of Hawaii. The Diane Suzuki investigation was the instance in which luminol and other technological advances in forensic science were first used by the Honolulu Police Department.
Suzuki was a female resident of Halawa, 5 feet 1 inch tall, 109 pounds, with a slim build, and of Japanese descent. Suzuki was last seen at about 5pm on July 6, 1985, outside the Woodson Institute of Dance in Aiea, where she was employed as a dance instructor.
During the same time period in Hawaii, there were the unsolved killings of at least nine women on Oahu. The deaths of Lisa Au, Regina Sakamoto, and others all over the island, led many to believe that there was a crime wave during the 1980's.
Although no charges have ever been filed in the case, it is widely believed that the murder suspect was a fellow dance instructor who murdered Suzuki in the bathroom of the Woodson Institute in Aiea. The discovery of blood evidence at the site led to legislation that overhauled Hawaii's harassment laws to include stalking, and changed the status of TRO violations to a class C felony (with a maximum penalty of 5 years in jail) in the hope of preventing further violence against women.
In 1993, Keith Kaneshiro, who was then prosecuting attorney for the City and County of Honolulu, attempted to re-open the case, but after more than 300 hours of grand jury testimony and thousands of dollars spent on the investigation, no charges were filed. The case remains unsolved as of 2004.
A primary suspect for the Diane Suzuki case has been identified as Dewey Hamasaki. Hamasaki was allegedly stalking Diane Suzuki as a co-worker at the dance studio. It was alleged he had a crush for Diane Suzuki.
Members of Oahu's public alleged at the Hamasaki pig farm, the body of Diane Suzuki was once buried there in Kailua. Allegations from neighbors of the Suzuki family, and neighbors of the Hamasaki's are that the entire Hamasaki family was in on cover up of the murder. It is also alleged that the Hamasaki's disposed of Suzuki's body into the ocean. The only evidence linking Suzuki to the Hamasaki pig farm is a black ballet tutu that was badly decomposed, and a reconstructed wall. Police investigations of the soil samples at the wall fail to reveal any traces of human remains.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ I'm just wondering. hawaiistories.com (2002-09-25). Retrieved on September 14, 2006.
