A 66-year-old Hawi man pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree attempted murder, second-degree assault, first-degree terroristic threatening, and two counts of felony domestic abuse.
Third Circuit Chief Judge Wendy DeWeese set trial for William Tai Seu Wong for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 4 and maintained his bail at $100,000.
Wong, who was indicted April 6 by a Kailua-Kona grand jury, is free pending trial, having posted bond on April 9.
DeWeese ordered Wong to stay 100 yards away from the complainant, a 48-year-old former romantic partner, and to not contact, threaten, harm or harass the woman.
According to the indictment, Wong shot the woman in the left arm and back area on April 26, 2023, and hit her at least twice between Sept. 1, 2024, and Nov. 8, 2024.
Court records indicate the victim secured an order for protection against Wong on Dec. 9, 2024.
In her petition for the protective order, the woman wrote that she and Wong attended a charity event on Oct. 29, 2022. Afterward, the woman allegedly drove an intoxicated Wong home.
In the woman’s words, Wong allegedly “grabbed me, threw me to the ground, grabbed my neck, and dragged me to his kitchen where he held a large butcher knife against my throat and threatened to kill me if I left. He told me he’d bury me on his property.”
Wong allegedly forced the victim into his bed, held her down and attempted to force sex on her.
The victim claimed that on April 26 and 27, 2023, Wong allegedly accused the woman of still being in love with her ex-husband, told her he was going to murder her, and shot her with a rifle in the left arm and upper back.
“I begged him not to shoot me and he then placed the gun in his mouth,” the woman wrote. “He would not allow me to go to the hospital initially and told me to call a vet. I was able to convince him to let me go if I told the Dr. that a cow horn impaled me and he said okay, but he still would not let me leave without him and he waited outside the hospital for me.
“I then left with him and we removed my flesh splattered in four rooms and the broken mirror where the bullet went through the wall the morning of 04/27.”
The woman wrote that on Jan. 9, 2023, as she attempted to leave Wong’s house, “he grabbed me, choked me and would not release his hands from my neck and threw me into his washing machine.”
“He then threw and pushed me towards the exterior of the garage in the alleyway to where he shoved me resulting in a fall and hit my head on a telephone post,” she continued. “I attempted to call police and he took my phone and was later arrested. I told police that he had weapons inside the house, but no check was done.”
Wong pleaded no contest on Aug. 4, 2025, to three counts of prohibited possession of a firearm while being restricted by a protective order. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped four other firearms-related charges.
DeWeese deferred acceptance of Wong’s no contest plea for a year, which would’ve resulted in the conviction being expunged from the record, had Wong stayed out of trouble with the law.
The most serious charge, second-degree attempted murder, carries a mandatory penalty of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. The other charges are all Class C felonies with convictions carrying a potential five-year prison term.
Email John Burnett at john.burnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.