GUILTY HI - Carly Joann 'Charli' Scott, 27, pregnant, Makawao, 9 Feb 2014 - #2

[heartgoesout]

Closed motion to dismiss hearing set for 3/19 per Find Charli Facebook page.

 

[heartgoesout]

Today there was a closed hearing on the defenses request to dismiss charges in Charli's case.
The request was DENIED.
Steven Capabianco WILL stand trial for the murder of Charli Scott, though not her unborn son, Joshua.
He is charged with Murder 2. The heinous charge stands still as well. Per Find Charli Facebook page.

There is also a search scheduled for Sunday 3/22/15. May this be the day her family finds her and brings her home.

 

[puakenikeni]

Hi everyone, this is my first post. I live in Hawai'i, and Charli's case has been on my mind since she first went missing. I feel so much shock and sorrow over what happened. I feel like processing the terrible details helps somehow. I have read all the earlier threads and your great speculation on what happened. The idea that she had trauma to her jaw and possibly face had not occurred to me, but sounds right with his awful comment about her mouth.

There was a lot of information disclosed in the hearing today, that is detailed in this story from our local TV news, Hawaii News Now.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/28568171/motion-to-dismiss-in-charli-scott-murder-case-denied

We now know why he was charged with exceptional depravity. He stabbed her womb, her unborn child Joshua, at least twenty times, as evidenced by knife holes in her skirt and their placement that would have been at her lower abdomen. Also, her bra that we heard was "slashed" was stabbed a dozen or so times. They are saying she was alive and tortured by knowing he was killing the child. This makes me think of poor Sharon Tate, a crime that has always haunted me.

Re what is left to figure out --As I recall, the skirt was found by her half-sister Phaedra. They confirm here that this was the same location where her jawbone was found after that. In terms of making sense of what was found, I do not understand why this selfish individual would do something so against his own self-preservation as to leave all this evidence together in one spot. I realize it was remote, but there are a lot of places in that area where it would not be found at all, and it could have been scattered. Steep gulches, cliffs, holes. This clothing we now know told a brutal story. Wouldn't he realize that?

I wonder if he wanted it found, thinking it would not be tied to him. Trying to figure out if he is that stupid about forensics, or arrogant, or underestimating the kind of search her family and friends would put together. Thoughts?

There is something else haunting me about the case, but I'm too tired to write it out tonight. This is enough for now.

 

[MamaJoJo]

:welcome:
Puakenikeni

Thank you for joining the discussion and providing this information. The depravity is utterly shocking.

 

[SCHMAE]

Thank you to everyone for continued updates !

 

[heartgoesout]

puakenikeni, welcome thank you for joining us! Thank you for the update, although I sit her reading it with a huge lump in my throat. In one sense it makes me feel better that they have significant evidence. On the other, I sit here in utter disbelief that someone could be so cruel and hearing the facts are very difficult. There are no words. **Please** God, let them find her this weekend.
Also, I'd be curious to know your other thought.

 

[heartgoesout]

I hope they can tie his hidden belt knife to be consistent with the marks in the skirt. This guy need to rot in hell.
I'm sitting at work dumbfounded on these new updates.

 

[heartgoesout]

http://www.mauinews.com/page/conten...stabbed-at-least-20-times-in-womb.html?nav=10

I dont understand a lot of this legal wording. Sounds like a his trial date will be set Monday.

 

[puakenikeni]

Thank you for the welcome! I am sorry to show up with such disgusting news. I was absolutely stunned by the depravity, and cannot stop thinking with sadness of this lovely optimistic caring young woman who could not have grasped the evil in her killer's soul (or lack thereof).

Thanks for the reminder about the belt knife. A match to a known weapon of SC would be a great thing.
I can't read the latest article in full, yet, so no comment yet.
I will post my other thought tomorrow. It needs to be worded sensitively, and I have work and other stuff all day today. Plenty to discuss today.

Feel free to shorten my username puakenikeni to pua.

ed. to fix auto-correct

 

[puakenikeni]

Charli's mother Kimberly has now posted this news on the Find Charli Scott Facebook. The family knew of this all along, and that is the reason for the dedicated push for a feticide law in Hawaii. The fetus was intentionally targeted. They say that their research shows that a fetus feels pain (at that stage, anyway).
There is a petition to sign linked there, to support their bill.

 

[heartgoesout]

Looking forward to your thoughts Pua. Although I can only imagine how hard it must be for her family to read on here and how sensitive some of the conversations are, I believe they feel our love and know we discuss this case out of genuine caring and the search for the truth and with undeniable respect for her family. I think if we get way off track and have info wrong or are discussing things detrimental to the justice for this case, they will stop us. I can only hope that we have been a distant support for them and maybe even helped a little in asking questions and speculating for the truth.

 

[heartgoesout]

I wonder if they found DNA on that knife belt buckle?

 

[puakenikeni]

I wonder if they found DNA on that knife belt buckle?

I hope so! The police here tend to be conservative in making arrests. They needed to have more than circumstantial evidence connecting him.

I definitely have concern about the family reading. I didn't post for over a week after joining.

Here is the cached link for the Maui News article, which has even more details presented in the motion than the HNN story:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HJGy8YlxU-QJ:http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/596146/Prosecution--Scott-stabbed-at-least-20-times-in-womb.html?nav%3D10%2Bmaui+pregnant+scott+stabbed&hl=en&gbv=2&&ct=clnk

The legalese: my read is that the crux of the motion was that the prosecution overstepped in presenting the evidence to the grand jury, that it violated rules regarding hearsay evidence, expert evidence, and skewed some evidence by not presenting full context. The judge ruled that it did not, and that some of the hearsay was elicited directly by the grand jury asking questions; the GJ was not led there by prosecution. Also the prosecution had to present its case for charging the enhanced measures, which charge had been challenged in the motion. (This is my take, YMMV)

New evidence in the Maui News story details that her bra was not slashed in back to remove it; the slashing was stabbing, and mostly in the front, in her breasts. A lot under one arm. Could it be a raised arm to ward off attack?

There is nothing about her polka dot blouse. Maybe that had been removed. Without all of her remains, they can't really know if there were other stab wounds not covered by the bra and skirt, but it's hard not to see this as an attack on the parts of her that were symbolic of her motherhood. :crying:

 

[heartgoesout]

Thank you for putting that in layman's terms! I'm with the program now! lol

 

[heartgoesout]

Is there any bargaining room in this case? What can be negotiated to get him to tell where she is? Would that be on the table? His pled not guilty so saying where she is would admit guilt. I hope his lawyer talks some sense into him. This is a stupid question, is he pleading not guilty to the type of charge or to the act?

 

[puakenikeni]

Hi, I am no expert on criminal proceedings, but this is what I believe from observing things in Hawaii for a while.
The Not Guilty plea is to the charge. The charges specify acts including second degree murder and arson. Yes, he is saying he did not do the acts. No he cannot reveal the location or provide closure to the family -- that would be a confession and used against him at trial. (None if this is Hawai'i specific.)

The prosecution may offer a plea bargain to avoid trial or at any time before the verdict comes in. The bargaining balance depends on the strength of the case. Accepting a plea bargain typically means the lesser sentence is agreed upon. The defendant is required to make an admission of guilt. There could be a condition of revealing crucial information. It is a process of negotiation.
The framework for this is the maximum and minimum sentence that he could receive if he is found guilty.
SC seems like a cocky guy who would hope for an acquittal if possible. He can hope that the lack of a body will make the case difficult to meet the beyond reasonable doubt standard.
He might want to see how things shape up.

It seems that he's no stranger to hanging out with lowlife characters and he's been in jail before. However, if he starts feeling heat for the inhumanity of the act, he might find it's scary to be incarcerated this time.

It would be great if the case against him is rock solid and doesn't get pleaded out with some lame light sentence.

Note: Some maybe most prisoners convicted in Hawai'i have been going to serve sentences at facilities on the mainland, although that could change.

 

[heartgoesout]

My uncle was murdered. The men were caught and currently serving life. It was not a situation were he was missing. I'm asking myself if the situation was such that my family had to decide to agree to give his killer a lesser sentence to find out were the body was, what would our decision have been?

I asked my my husband and teenage son. They both easily agree to keep the highest sentence and not learn where the body is. I tend to feel agree to the lower sentence and find my loved one.

 

[puakenikeni]

That is a tough one, heartgoesout. Very sorry to hear about your uncle.

I was looking at the various court dates and filings for Steven Capobianco today, and my head started to spin at his various arrests and charges, so I made a timeline with media articles to link to each event. I found it helpful and I hope that you here might as well. This timeline is not for the Charli Scott case; it is for the other Capobianco cases that are running alongside the Scott case. I know there is a good timeline posted for the main case.

February 9, 2014
Charli Scott disappears.

February 27, 2014 - police search Capobianco's residence, find items reported stolen.

April 14, 2014
Steven Capobianco arrested on burglary charges stemming from theft of the above stolen items, for a home break-in committed during Sept 2013.
http://mauinow.com/2014/04/14/steven-capobianco-arrested-in-burglary-case/

Police say the complainant informed a detective of the missing items on Feb. 24, 2014, while police were conducting a follow-up on an unrelated investigation.

Police recovered a computer and jewelry from Capobianco’s residence while conducting an unrelated search of the location on Feb. 27, 2014, according to a report released today.

May 15, initial burglary charge dismissed and refiled as felony charges, SC arrested, later makes bail.
http://mauinow.com/2014/05/16/capobianco-arrested-felony-charges-bail-set-at-25000/#fbcomments

June 15, 2014, SC arrested on suspicion of terroristic threatening, followed by charge for possession of deadly weapon and violation of bail terms.
http://mauinow.com/2014/06/17/capobianco-arrested-on-suspicion-of-terroristic-threatening/

http://mauinow.com/2014/06/17/capobianco-held-on-502000-bail-for-possession-of-deadly-weapon/

Capobianco's most recent arrest on June 16 was for terroristic threatening in the first degree, after sources say he was accused of threatening a member of Scott's family. According to police, Capobianco sent a SnapChat message to several people, including a 16-year-old female, and a member of Scott's family. The message contained an image and statement implying someone would get hurt.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/26014470/ex-boyfriend-of-missing-pregnant-woman-indicted-on-murder-charge

SC agreed to meet with police to discuss terroristic threatening complaint, then called to say he would not meet. APB was issued; he was picked up and arrested.

During the custodial search portion of the prisoner intake process, police say a 4 to 6-inch dual-edged knife, disguised as a belt buckle and sheathed within a belt was located on Capobianco.

Charged with possession of deadly weapon.
Bail revoked for violation of terms (bail for his felony theft and burglary charges).
Terroristic threatening complaint was to be further investigated and has not been charged.

July 14, 2015
SC indicted for second degree murder of Charli Scott and 3rd degree arson, pled Not Guilty on 7/15.
http://mauinow.com/2014/07/14/capobianco-indicted-for-murder-over-missing-charli-scott/

Future court dates posted on Hawai'i State Judiciary site, listed in the order charges were filed:
Theft and burglary case continued in early Feb.. Trial date and motion to show cause non-evidentiary hearing -- April 27th 2015.

Weapons possession case set for pre-trial conference and to set trial date -- April 4th, 2015.

Charli Scott murder and arson case -- trial date to be set on Monday March 23, 2015.

Note: all dates may be subject to further continuances. Capobianco has signed/filed a Waiver to his right to a speedy trial for each case.

 

[puakenikeni]

Kind of interesting how the burglary and Scott investigations fed each other to SC's undoing.

The burglary happened in Sept. prior to Charli's disappearance, but the complaint was not made that implicated SC until Feb 24th, 1014. The complaint came about, from what I can see in the media article (linked above), when a woman was being interviewed in an "unrelated investigation." This could have been the investigation into Charli's disappearance or something else, but Steven was implicated as the only other person who knew this stolen laptop was being held for its absent owner at this house. Also tires were slashed when the burglary was committed (see article).

Then on Feb. 27th, three days after this complaint, the police are searching Steven's residence, but not on a warrant from the burglary case. Listed as part of another unrelated investigation. I am guessing that the search of his residence was for the Scott case.

Had the police not gotten the complaint and information on the burglary of computer and jewelry three days prior, they wouldn't have known to pay attention to the jewelry. Apparently they noticed a computer too, but it was Steven's (not clear on that).

It looks like the timing of this complaint right before a search scheduled for his residence (on the Scott case) ultimately resulted in Steven's felony burglary charges.
Steven's alleged threat to the Scott family via Snapchat led to police wanting to interview him.
His arrest for weapons possession came while trying to evade police (instead of going in as requested). Evading police led to an APB and an arrest regardless of the police having substance on the terroristic threat complaint. The arrest led to a booking search of his person, thus to the discovery of the knife. Had he gone in for an interview clean, he probably would not have been charged, because no charge was made on the terroristic threatening, and would not have been searched. In any case, surely he would not go in voluntarily to a police station wearing a concealed deadly weapon.

This charge on the weapons was a bail violation that landed him back in jail for the duration. Had he avoided the weapons violation, he could have stayed out on bail through the time he was set to be tried for the felony burglary and theft, or the grand jury indictment that came in July.

Had he not been arrested for the burglary and thus not been out on bail, he could most likely have freely left the state if he so wished, but being on bail he did not have the right.

That concealed knife may or may not tie him to the stab holes in Charli's garments. It MAY be the connection the police needed. We do not know that. It is entirely stupid of him if he did go around wearing the murder weapon, but can't be ruled out. In any case, his stupidity in wearing a concealed knife resulted in the charge and the police getting hold of this knife to test it forensically, which they probably would never have seen otherwise.

Lastly, there is the odd coincidence of that complaint for burglary being filed by someone who clearly knew Steven, as Steven knew she had a computer on loan that was worth something. It would be interesting if the followup on an unrelated investigation was something like questioning about the missing parts of the Forerunner or similar. That is just some speculation on my part, but it did take place two weeks after Charli disappeared.

Island life is so inter-connected. Very possible that questioning regarding Charli's case and possibly her burnt and stripped vehicle, of which we heard parts were recovered, would trigger a burglary complaint for an incident five months prior. This then allows the residence search, which possibly came up empty for evidence as to Charli, to produce other evidence that starts the chain of charges that keeps him in jail from mid-April to July.

Note: when Steven was indicted and arraigned for the murder charge in mid-July, he was given the opportunity to make bail for two million dollars. However, a month later his option to post bail was revoked at request of prosecutor.
http://www.kitv.com/news/2-million-bail-revoked-for-maui-murder-suspect/27419582

I sure hope that his current incarceration transitions seamlessly into a life sentence with no possibility of parole. I had an open mind about him at the beginning, thinking that a guilty man would have made up a better story with fewer holes in it, would have said the right things, would have known better than to talk about her in past tense, to make a remark about her having a mouth on her. A guilty man with a plan should be prepared to sound concerned for her welfare, and to say he was looking forward to being a father. So I thought it was just barely possible someone else had done it, some predator on the loose.

However, it's not at all likely that another killer would have deliberately stabbed the fetus. I think that piece of evidence, that the fetus was targeted and with the rage of at least twenty blows, will convince the jury he did it and no one else.

 

[MamaJoJo]

Amazing posts, Pua. A simple "thanks" is not enough.

:yourock:

I, too, have wondered about the timing of the burglary complaint and how it was what really tripped SC up. Why wasn't this burglary and property damage (slashed tires) complaint made until five months after it happened?

It's all very complicated!