TLDR
Honolulu police arrested inmate John Nihipali after his 53-year-old girlfriend was found fatally stabbed in McCully, and his 53-year-old estranged wife was wounded in Kapolei. Records show he was on a work furlough from Oahu Community Correctional Center, prompting scrutiny of monitoring and release procedures.
Overlapping Relationships and a Tight Timeline
According to Law & Crime, “John Nihipali, 55, was charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder after police said he stabbed his 53-year-old estranged wife and his 53-year-old girlfriend, who died following the attack.” Honolulu police later updated the counts to include attempted first-degree murder, burglary, and escape. The alleged violence unfolded across two neighborhoods on the island of Oahu within a single afternoon.
Honolulu police reported that officers were first dispatched to a Kapolei home around 4:15 p.m. after a report of a stabbing. Investigators say Nihipali attacked his estranged wife, stabbing her in the neck, before a 30-year-old man intervened, allowing her to escape and call 911. Just over an hour later, around 5:30 p.m., officers responded to a McCully residence where a woman was found unresponsive and initially classified as an unattended death, a determination that shifted once multiple stab and defensive wounds were documented.
Work Furlough, Monitoring, and Oversight Questions
In coverage of a Honolulu Police Department news conference, KHON reported that the Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed Nihipali was serving a 25-year sentence for second-degree assault at Oahu Community Correctional Center, with his estranged wife as the victim in that earlier case. At the time of the new alleged attacks, he was participating in a work release program and out on a resocialization furlough pass, subject to an ankle monitor. Officials have not publicly explained how his movements on the day of the stabbings were supervised or reviewed.
Police said investigators traced the McCully victim’s vehicle to the Kapolei address and recovered it there. Surveillance footage, according to police summaries cited by Law & Crime, showed a man identified as Nihipali entering the McCully home shortly after 10:30 a.m. and leaving around 2:45 p.m. He allegedly then drove his girlfriend’s vehicle to Kapolei, arriving near 4 p.m., before the first 911 call. The apparent gap between the McCully assault and the later discovery of the victim’s body raises questions about how promptly any monitoring alerts, if generated, were reviewed.
Charges Filed and What Remains Unclear
Honolulu police said officers arrested Nihipali outside his estranged wife’s Kapolei home, where he had to be subdued before being taken into custody. HPD homicide Lt. Deena Thoemmes told reporters that the estranged wife remained hospitalized but was improving, according to KHON’s reporting. A subsequent Honolulu police statement said detectives concluded that both women had relationships with the same man, a point that linked what initially appeared to be two separate cases.
By the following day, prosecutors had charged Nihipali with attempted first-degree murder, second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, burglary, and escape, and he was ordered held without bail. Court records cited by Law & Crime indicate that his next court date had not been made public at the time of the initial reports. State corrections officials have not announced any internal review of the furlough and monitoring decisions that allowed a prisoner with a prior assault conviction involving his estranged wife to be in the community at the time of the alleged attacks. The criminal case, along with any administrative inquiries into Hawaii’s work-release system, will determine what additional accountability, if any, follows.
