Maui man walks free after 30 years behind bars, with help of Hawaiʻi Innocence Project

“Thank you… You guys believed in me,” said Gordon Cordeiro as he hugged family, friends and his defense team upon his release on Friday afternoon. After more than 30 years behind bars, Cordeiro is a free man thanks to the Hawaiʻi Innocence Project and a ruling by 2nd Circuit District Court Judge Kirstin M. Hamman, vacating a murder conviction and granting him immediate release.

Tears flowed and applause filled the courtroom as the order was read before a gallery of family and friends wearing t-shirts printed with the message “Faith, Freedom, Justice for Gordon.”

Walking into the arms of his sisters and his dad, Cordeiro embraced his loved ones and thanked those who stood by him all these years.

Cordeiro had been serving a term of life in prison without parole for charges stemming from an apparent drug deal robbery gone bad. Court records show that on Aug. 11, 1994, Timmy Blaisdell, 20, of Kula was shot and killed, and his body was left at the bottom of a ravine off Old Kula Road at a spot known at the time as “Skid Row.”

The petition filed by the defense claimed that “the sole suspect,” Michael Freitas became the “state’s star witness,” when he implicated Cordeiro, as a means to protect himself, the defense argued.

Cordeiro, who has always maintained his innocence, had an alibi that placed him at home for the entire day, building a shelving unit in the family’s open-air garage, and being the primary caretaker for his mother who suffered from ALS. He left only briefly to purchase more lumber for his garage project, a quick errand that was corroborated by a salesman at the lumberyard, according to the petition.

“After the first trial ended in a hung jury, with 11 out of the 12 jurors [who] believed Cordeiro to be innocent, the State chose to rely on four additional… witnesses, who were all jailhouse informants,” the petition stated.

“We’ve always known that Gordon was innocent,” said Kenneth Lawson of the Hawaiʻi Innocence Project. “This is a case where when you hear the facts… you know somewhere deep in your heart, there’s been some fundamental unfairness going on.”

“As the judge said in there, the informant testimony, the false [claims] that Gordon wrote all these notes and admissions—that’s not his handwriting,” Lawson explained.

Prosecutors disagreed with the ruling. The prosecution alleged that Gordon robbed the victim by sticking his hands in the victim’s pockets and pulling out $800. The defense presented evidence that Gordon’s DNA was not in the pockets, but someone else’s DNA was. “That’s the unknown,” according to the defense.

As for Freitas, Lawson said, “I don’t think Freitas took him (Blaisdell) there to get killed, but he took him there to get robbed.” Sources say Freitas passed away several years ago.

The judge determined that the new evidence surrounding DNA and lack of physical evidence linking Gordon to the scene, had a probability of changing the result if it proceeded to another trial.

Now at the age of 51, with many milestones passed and gatherings missed, Gordon’s long-awaited homecoming has finally arrived.

He called it “Freedom Friday” as he answered questions from media about his thoughts getting back to a world and community that is much different that what he knew in his 20s.

Upon exiting the Maui Community Correctional Center where he was processed for release, Gordon said his first stop would be to visit the resting place of his mother, who died about a month before he was arrested.

The most difficult part over the years, Dennis said was waving goodbye to his son during visits to the prison in Arizona. “Know[ing] that you’re leaving and he’s not; and it might be another year before you make the trip to Arizona, or six months,” Dennis reflected. “It’s a big release from the weight on my shoulders for all these years,” he said of the order to vacate.

When asked about the prosecution’s options and the ability to refile, Gina Gormley, a volunteer attorney with the Hawaiʻi Innocence Project said, “I think if they really sat down and took the time to look at the case and all the new evidence that came out, they should not retry this case. Absolutely not.”

Gormley pointed toward new evidence, lack of DNA, expert testimony and handwriting analysis that were presented by the defense as key factors in the outcome and included in a 120 page memorandum filed with the court in May 2024.

“He was an aspiring mechanic,” Gormley said of Gordon, calling the missed career path a travesty.

Jennifer Brown, Associate Director and Staff Attorney with the Hawaiʻi Innocence Project acknowledged that the world has changed a lot in terms of job skills training since the conviction. “Cell phones and things like that, computers, technology has advanced so much… It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m so happy that he’s home and supported by his family.”

The Hawai’i Innocence Project is a law clinic and nonprofit that strives to not only exonerate the innocent but to also reform the justice system.