Kauai man sentenced in connection to wife’s death
LIHUE, Kauai (AP) — A Kauai man will spend the next decade in prison for the 2006 death of his wife.
Darren Galas, 46, was sentenced to 10 years Wednesday after pleading no contest in January to a felony assault charge.
Sandra Galas, 27, was found strangled in the garage of her Eleele home on Kauai in January 2006. Her estranged husband was the prime suspect, but police didn’t have enough evidence to arrest him at the time, authorities said.
Darren Galas was indicted in October 2012 for second-degree murder, but pleaded no contest to the lesser charge after reaching an agreement with prosecutors.
“I truly, truly hope that the families will have some amount of closure and will focus on the positive memories of Sandra Mendonca Galas, as well as the future of the welfare of the minor children,” Judge Kathleen Watanabe said as she sentenced Darren Galas.
The two were married in 1999 and separated in 2005. Sandra Galas had asked for a divorce after the separation, according to court documents.
Before her death, Sandra Galas was living in fear of her husband, who had a short temper, prosecutor Justin Kollar said. Kollar read to the court emails that Sandra Galas had sent to her divorce attorney that described harassment by her husband.
The many delays in prosecuting the case have brought pain to family as well as the community, Kollar said.
“The day of reckoning is finally at hand for this defendant,” Kollar said.
Defense attorney Michael Green told the court that Darren Galas was committed to his family and had always shown them unconditional love.
He said that police were never able to reach a conclusion about who was responsible for the death.
In a statement to the court, Darren Galas thanked his supporters.
“I do love Sandy and her boys,” Darren Galas said. “We were separated but at times we were still intimate. She was a loving mother.”
Couple attacked in Honolulu faces $50K in medical costs
HONOLULU (AP) — A Japanese couple is facing $50,000 in medical costs after being assaulted in a public restroom at a Honolulu park, a Hawaii visitors’ assistance organization said.
The couple was attacked Monday at the Mother Waldron Neighborhood Park, leading the Japanese Consulate to issue a warning Tuesday for tourists to avoid public bathrooms in Kakaako.
The man was hit in the face after entering the restroom, said Jessica Lani Rich, president of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii.
Hearing a noise, his wife then entered the bathroom and was choked, causing her to briefly pass out, Rich said. Honolulu police had reported the encounter to the society.
The couple came upon a group of men injecting drugs inside the bathroom, according to the consulate’s warning written in Japanese. Both the man and woman were punched in the face, leaving them with broken teeth, the warning stated.
The couple returned to Japan this week.
“It’s really sad when our visitors are assaulted when they come to Hawaii to have a wonderful, dream vacation,” Rich said.