UPDATE: Kahului Woman Found Dead at Residence: Arrest Made

Graphics by Wendy Osher.

By Maui Now Staff

UPDATE: On Jan.2, 2015, at about 8:28 p.m., Keoni Vinuya Tomas, age 25, from Kahului was arrested in connection with the death of Gail Otsuka and released pending further investigation.

There is no further information available at this time, the investigation continues.

Maui Police Department’s Wailuku patrol officers responded to a call on Jan. 2, 2015, at approximately 7:40 a.m., from a male who reported smoke coming from his girlfriend’s aunt’s residence on Moloka‘i Akau Street in Kahului. Upon entering, he saw items near the stove smoldering and the aunt lying lifeless in her bedroom.

MPD officers arrived, extinguished the fire and checked the bedroom, finding Gail Otsuka, age 61, dead. They noted she was lying on her bed, and observed that her injuries looked suspicious.

The Criminal Investigation Division responded, and the investigation is continuing.

The exact cause of death is pending an autopsy.