A 34-year-old man faces numerous charges in connection with the shooting death of a Puna man.
A 34-year-old man faces numerous charges in connection with the shooting death of a Puna man.
At 1:10 p.m. today, Hilo police detectives charged Eric James Fontes Jr., of no permanent address, with second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, being a felon in possession of a firearm and second-degree theft.
According to Lt. Greg Esteban, dental records identified a body found Saturday off Beach Road in lower Puna as 59-year-old Barton Allen Bumatay, who had been missing from his Hawaiian Paradise Park home since New Year’s Eve.
Bumatay had been shot in the head, according to an autopsy.
Fontes was also indicted Wednesday by a Hilo grand jury with second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and drug paraphernalia for a 2014 case.
His total bail is $725,000 and Fontes remains in custody pending his his initial court date, scheduled for Friday.
See Friday’s edition for more details.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.