Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History

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

In 1932, seventeen-year-old Margaret Enos of Hilo said no to Sylvester William Nunes. What followed was not romance, no matter how some old headlines framed it. It was stalking, abduction, gun violence, murder, and a sacred place forced to carry the weight of someone else’s obsession.

This revisited episode of Beneath the Palms returns to the murder of Margaret Enos near Halemaumau Crater, the note left behind in Nunes’s red roadster, the dangerous recovery of Margaret’s body by Rikan Konishi, and the wave in Hilo Bay that some in the community understood through Pele, sacred ground, and cultural memory.

We stay with the verified record first: Margaret was taken from her home, her sister Mrs. Manuel Furtado was shot trying to stop the abduction, Nunes drove Margaret toward Kilauea, and both bodies were later found below the rim of Halemaumau. From there, we carefully separate documented facts from old newspaper language, public memory, and the beliefs people carried after violence entered a place many understood as Pele’s home.

This is not a “lovers’ leap” story. This is the story of a young woman whose no should have been enough.

If this episode stays with you, let it stay for Margaret. Not the note. Not the roadster. Not the old headlines. Margaret was seventeen. She had the right to grow older.

Listener discretion is advised. This episode discusses stalking, domestic violence, abduction, gun violence, murder, suicide, and cultural beliefs surrounding Pele and Halemaumau.

Sources for this episode include:

“And Now I Must Pay” | Images of Old Hawaii

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/and-now-i-must-pay/

“Pele” | National Park Service

https://www.nps.gov/articles/pele.htm

“Kilauea” | Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, National Park Service

https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/nature/kilauea.htm

“Hawaii Volcanoes National Park” | National Park Service

https://www.nps.gov/havo/

“NCEI Hazard Earthquake Information — 1932 Mexico Earthquake Event” | NOAA/NCEI

https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/event-more-info/3492

“NCEI Hazard Tsunami Event Information” | NOAA/NCEI

https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/event-more-info/1932

“NCEI Hazard Tsunami Runup Information — Hilo, Hawaii” | NOAA/NCEI

https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/runup-more-info/2227

“Leaps Into Volcano After Murder” | The Advertiser, preserved by Trove/National Library of Australia

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/34682672

“Page 3 — Indianapolis Times, 13 June 1932” | Hoosier State Chronicles

https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=IPT19320613.1.3

“Page 1 — Indianapolis Times, 3 June 1932” | Hoosier State Chronicles

https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=IPT19320603.1.1

“Hawaii Herald, 17 July 1987 — Page 19” | Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection

https://hojishinbun.hoover.org/?a=d&d=thh19870717-01.1.18

Archival reporting referenced through the episode also includes 1932 coverage from the Chicago Tribune, Fresno Bee, and Stanford Daily, as quoted and preserved in the Images of Old Hawaii research page listed above.

Special mahalo to Yoza for “Broken Wings.”

Follow Beneath the Palms wherever you listen, and share this episode with someone who cares about Hawaii history, true crime, sacred places, and the victims whose names deserve more than the way they died.

#BeneathThePalms #MargaretEnos #Hilo #Halemaumau #Kilauea #Pele #HawaiiTrueCrime #HawaiiHistory #TrueCrimePodcast #UnsolvedHistory #DomesticViolenceAwareness #VictimCenteredTrueCrime

On January 7, 2004, a meeting after a funeral turned into gunfire at Pali Golf Course on Oahu. Lepo Utu Taliese and Romelius “Junior” Corpuz Jr. were killed, Tino Sao was critically wounded, and before the case became a federal racketeering prosecution, two wounded men had already named the men they said shot them.

This fully revisited episode of Beneath the Palms rebuilds the Pali Golf Course shootings from the ground up: the public daylight attack, the illegal gambling-security dispute behind it, the Young Street violence that came before it, Tino’s courtroom testimony, and the federal case that led to convictions against Ethan “Malu” Motta and Rodney Joseph Jr., with Kevin “Pancho” Gonsalves sentenced for his admitted role.

But this is not just a story about organized crime in Hawaii. It is about Lepo as a father, fiance, son, brother, and taxi driver. It is about Junior as a husband, father, brother, and working man. And it is about Tino, who survived long enough to testify — and who, after being shot through the face, still asked paramedics to help his brother first.

This episode contains descriptions of gun violence, homicide, severe injury, illegal gambling, organized crime, witness intimidation, and grief. Listener discretion is advised.

Sources for this episode include:

Golf course killings connected to gambling — The Honolulu Advertiser

Shooting victims named attackers — The Honolulu Advertiser, Jan. 10, 2004 / Hawaii State Public Library System archive record

Gambling turf war emerges as factor — Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Survivor describes golf course attack — Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Four plead guilty in 2004 Pali shooting — The Honolulu Advertiser

Sentence issued in 2004 Pali Golf Course murders — The Honolulu Advertiser

Hawaii jury returns guilty verdict in Pali golf course murders — The Honolulu Advertiser

Final defendant in Pali Golf Course shootings sentenced — Hawaii News Now

Billy Kenoi helped Pali Shooter — Hawaii Free Press

#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #PaliGolfCourse #OahuTrueCrime #HawaiiPodcast #TrueCrimePodcast #HawaiiHistory #OrganizedCrime #ColdCasePodcast #TrueCrimeCommunity

Hawaii couple Bobby Fort and Julie Montague were not who they claimed to be. In this Beneath the Palms episode, we trace how Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison stole the identities of two dead Texas infants, built false lives for decades, and carried one of those stolen names into the U.S. Coast Guard and later defense-contractor work.

This is a fact-based deep dive into one of the strangest Hawaii true crime cases: identity theft, passport fraud, dead babies’ identities, Coast Guard security clearance, the KGB photo controversy, and the spy theory that never became the case the jury actually heard. The verdict proved conspiracy, passport fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The bigger question — why they chose those names and lived inside them for so long — still hangs there.

Sources used:

Criminal Complaint and Affidavit, United States v. Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison

https://www.hawaiifreepress.com/Portals/0/Article%20Attachments/Article%20Attachments%202022/Primrose%20KGB%20Indictment.pdf

A trial begins for a Hawaii couple accused of stealing identities of dead babies

https://apnews.com/article/dea587f929570d82744e91a1050fecee

Federal trial for Hawaii couple accused of stealing identities of dead babies begins

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/10/25/federal-trial-hawaii-couple-accused-stealing-identities-dead-babies-begins/

Jury finds Hawaii couple guilty for stealing identities of dead babies

https://apnews.com/article/06313eb1f9148895d7e10a22a6d5967a

Hawaii couple accused of stealing identities of dead babies sentenced to prison

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/03/08/hawaii-couple-accused-stealing-identities-dead-babies-sentenced-prison/

Judge sentences couple who stole identities of dead children

https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-sentences-man-who-stole-identity-of-dead-children/

Invisible Ink. Coded Papers. The Mystery Of A Kapolei Couple Accused Of ID Theft

https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/07/invisible-ink-coded-papers-the-mystery-of-a-kapolei-couple-accused-of-id-theft/

Hawaii pair accused of conspiracy, taking IDs of dead babies

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/hi/hawaii/crime/2022/07/28/hawaii-pair-accused-of-conspiracy--taking-ids-of-dead-babies

#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #IdentityTheft #BobbyFort #JulieMontague #WalterPrimrose #GwynnMorrison #CoastGuard #PassportFraud #DeadBabiesIdentities

In February 2010, Laura Vogel sent one final text from Maui’s North Shore. She said she was camped near the birthing pools and meeting the locals. Then the woman who loved wild places, taught science, coached soccer, studied wildlife biology, and helped people see the natural world more clearly was gone.

This revisited episode of Beneath the Palms goes deeper into Laura’s life before the disappearance: her New Mexico roots, her years as a standout Eldorado soccer player, her work as a wildlife biologist, her teaching, her coaching, her love of the outdoors, and the people who still remember her with love.

We also walk through the verified timeline: the last text, the missed tutoring job, the van found near Pauwela Lighthouse, the missing phone and wallet, the search by friends, family, police, fire crews, dogs, divers, aircraft, and volunteers, and the unanswered questions that still remain.

Where the record becomes uncertain, this episode clearly separates verified facts from family belief, public discussion, and theory. Laura remains missing. No one has been charged. No one has been convicted. Her case remains unresolved.

If you know anything about Laura Vogel’s disappearance, contact Maui Police at 808-244-6400 or Maui Crime Stoppers at 808-242-6966. Case number listed by the family: 10-14126.

Sources:

Find Laura Vogel: About Laura Vogel

https://findlauravogel.blogspot.com/p/about-laura-vogel.html

Find Laura Vogel Blog Archive

https://findlauravogel.blogspot.com/2010/

NamUs: Missing Person Laura Vogel, MP5315

https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP5315

The Charley Project: Laura Vogel

https://charleyproject.org/case/laura-vogel

Texas EquuSearch: Laura Vogel, 43 Yrs., Maui, Hawaii

https://texasequusearch.org/cases/missing-laura-vogel-43-yrs-maui-hawaii-02-2-10/

Honolulu Advertiser: Foul play feared in woman’s disappearance

https://honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2010/Feb/26/ln/hawaii2260348.html

Honolulu Advertiser: Family’s agonizing search goes on

https://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2010/Mar/28/ln/hawaii3280383.html

Maui Now: Search Continues for Maui Woman Missing Since Monday

https://mauinow.com/2010/02/25/search-continues-for-maui-woman-missing-since-monday/

Hawaii News Now: Family steps up search for missing Maui camper

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/12046880/family-steps-up-search-for-missing-maui-camper/

CBS News: Laura Vogel, Missing in Hawaii

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/laura-vogel-missing-in-hawaii/

Maui Guidebook: Missing Person Alert, Haiku, Maui

https://mauiguidebook.com/news/missing-person-alert-haiku-maui/

Newspapers.com archival clippings used in episode research: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Albuquerque Journal, Alamogordo Daily News, The Santa Fe New Mexican, and West Hawaii Today

https://www.newspapers.com/

#LauraVogel #MissingPerson #MauiTrueCrime #HawaiiTrueCrime #BeneathThePalms

Malia Arciero’s Portlock case became one of Hawaii’s most talked-about true crime scandals because it was never just about meth.

Behind the gates, the ocean views, and the carefully kept silence, federal prosecutors said Malia was moving serious quantities of methamphetamine across Oahu. But around that drug case grew another story: escort work, reported black books, powerful clients, misconduct allegations, public whispers, and a question Honolulu could not stop asking: who else was standing close to the fire?

In this revisited episode of Beneath the Palms, we follow the verified record first. Malia was arrested in 2013, convicted after a six-day federal trial in 2015, and sentenced to 172 months in prison. Prosecutors said the evidence included more than a pound of methamphetamine in her vehicle, earlier April distribution activity, and admissions tied to multi-pound quantities.

But this story also has a second life. Hawaii Reporter covered Malia’s claims that she had operated an escort business for years and kept multiple black books containing client information, hotel contacts, and private details. Those claims fueled public fascination and speculation about status, secrecy, and power in Honolulu. The misconduct allegations against the federal agent later became part of the court record too, but before sentencing Malia recanted them under oath. The court treated those accusations as false and obstructive, and a later federal order described them as manufactured.

This episode keeps those lanes separate: what was proven, what was alleged, what was recanted, and what the public kept whispering about long after the verdict.

At the center is not a headline. It is a human story about choices, addiction, exploitation, secrecy, damage, and what people carry after the record closes.

Sources for this episode include:

Woman Convicted of Methamphetamine Distribution

https://www.justice.gov/usao-hi/pr/woman-convicted-methamphetamine-distribution

Methamphetamine Trafficker Admits False Accusations And Receives Over 14 Years In Prison

https://www.justice.gov/usao-hi/pr/methamphetamine-trafficker-admits-false-accusations-and-receives-over-14-years-prison

Methamphetamine trafficker sentenced to 14 years in prison

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/methamphetamine-trafficker-sentenced-14-years-prison

United States v. Arciero, Ninth Circuit 2020

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-9th-circuit/2090057.html

United States v. Arciero, District of Hawaii 2021 Order

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-hid-1_13-cr-01036/pdf/USCOURTS-hid-1_13-cr-01036-5.pdf

Exclusive: Portlock madam releases black book

https://www.hawaiireporter.com/exclusive-portlock-madam-releases-black-book/

Portlock Ex-Madam Makes Stunning Allegations in a Civil Lawsuit Against Hawaii ICE Agent

https://www.hawaiireporter.com/portlock-madam-makes-stunning-allegations-in-a-civil-lawsuit-against-hawaii-ice-agent/

Former Portlock madam wants drug charges against her dismissed

https://www.hawaiireporter.com/former-portlock-madam-wants-drug-charges-against-her-dismissed/

Attorney for Portlock madam said his client was set up by ICE agent

https://www.hawaiireporter.com/attorney-for-portlock-madam-said-his-client-was-set-up-by-ice-agent/

Former Portlock madam convicted on federal drug charges

https://www.hawaiireporter.com/portlock-madam-convicted-on-federal-drug-charges/

Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Customs agent investigated over sex assault, corruption

Source reviewed through newspaper archive clipping.

Mahalo to Yoza for “Broken Wings,” a song we use because these stories are never only about what broke. They are also about what people carry afterward.

#BeneathThePalms #HawaiiTrueCrime #MaliaArciero #PortlockMadam #HawaiiCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #HonoluluCrime #MethTrafficking #TrueCrimeCommunity

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

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🎧 Follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple, or Amazon.
📺 Subscribe on YouTube.
📸 Follow us on Instagram at @BeneathThePalmsPodcast

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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 1972, he killed again—stabbing his estranged wife, Roberta Ululani Aveiro, to death in a Waikiki hotel room.

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.
📺 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 #RobertaUlulaniAveiro #TrueCrimeCommunity

Legacy Episode 29 revisits the Hawaii cold case of Mary Sue Fink, the toddler identified through familial DNA after her remains were found in a galvanized steel can inside a Waikiki apartment closet in 2014. This Beneath the Palms episode follows the verified record, the murder investigation, the “Aunty” family story, and the long silence that kept Mary Sue’s name buried for decades.

This Legacy redo goes back through the case the way we always do: sharper writing, a harder fact check, and a cleaner line between what the public record proves and what still lives in rumor. If you follow Hawaii true crime, cold cases, missing children cases, forensic genealogy, or unsolved Honolulu murder cases, this episode is built for you.

Music credit:

“Broken Wings” by Yoza, used with permission.

Sources:

DNA test leads to identification of toddler in 1960 Oahu cold case murder — ⁠https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/01/15/dna-test-leads-identification-toddler-center-1960-oahu-cold-case-murder/⁠

After a decade, Honolulu Jane Doe (2014) is now Identified — ⁠https://dnasolves.com/articles/mary-sue-fink-hawaii/⁠

Young child’s remains identified 60 years later, but killer unknown — ⁠https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/01/16/hawaii-news/young-childs-remains-identified-60-years-later-but-killer-unknown/⁠

Skeletal remains of girl born in 1959 identified a decade after bones found in Hawaii — ⁠https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-mary-sue-fink-dna/⁠

#MarySueFink #HawaiiColdCase #BeneathThePalms #HonoluluTrueCrime

He was quiet. Retired. A face no one looked twice at.

Living in Makawao, Maui — a world away from the violence he left behind.

But in August 2022, a knock at his door shattered the silence.
Gary Gene Ramirez had been hiding in plain sight for 40 years.

In 1982, 15-year-old Karen Stitt was brutally murdered in Sunnyvale, California.
Stabbed 59 times. Bound with her own clothing. Left behind a fence like trash.

The case went cold.
Until one drop of blood… and a new kind of DNA search… led detectives to Hawaii.

This episode traces the path from Karen’s last night, to decades of silence, to the arrest in paradise.
It’s the story of a girl taken too young, a family that never stopped hoping, and a man who thought he’d outrun justice—until the Pacific couldn’t hide him anymore.

⚠️ Listener discretion advised: this episode contains details of sexual assault, violence, and the murder of a minor.

If you have information about unsolved crimes in Hawaii, contact Honolulu CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300 or visit honolulucrimestoppers.org.

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🎵 Music: “Obsession” by Yoza – used with permission
📚 Sources: Hawaii News Now, Maui Now, San Francisco Chronicle, Mercury News, People Magazine, Santa Clara DA reports, official court records, and Sunnyvale PD press statements
#KarenStitt #GaryGeneRamirez #ColdCaseSolved #MauiArrest #BeneathThePalms #TrueCrimeHawaii #DNAJustice #GeneticGenealogy