A police officer testified Wednesday that a murder suspect had his passport in a pocket when he was apprehended in Puna three years ago.
Officer James Pacheco took the witness stand in the murder trial of Sean Rutledge.
Rutledge, a 43-year-old former attorney, is charged with second-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of his 63-year-old mother, Nadean Rutledge, on Aug. 25, 2015. Her naked body was found under a sheet on the side of her home at the corner of Kapoho Kai Drive and Wai‘opae Road in the Kapoho Vacationland subdivision, which was overrun by lava from Kilauea volcano’s lower East Rift Zone eruption in early June.
Pacheco testified he was on patrol the following morning when he received a radio call that a “male party” matching the description of Rutledge — who was wanted on an all-points bulletin — was spotted walking along the shoulder of Highway 130 toward Pahoa.
Pacheco said he and another officer, David Poohina, arrived “almost simultaneously” to the spot where Rutledge was.
“He said his name was Sean,” Pacheco testified. “… I asked if his last name was Rutledge.”
“And how did the defendant respond?” asked Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Hashizaki.
“He said … his last name was Rutledge,” Pacheco replied.
Pacheco said additional officers soon arrived and one, Officer Kimo Veincent, patted down Rutledge and “revealed a set of keys and a passport.”
“I looked at the passport, and the passport provided a picture of the male party and the name Sean Rutledge,” Pacheco said.
The trial is scheduled to continue today in the courtroom of Hilo Circuit Judge Henry Nakamoto.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
