Article URL: http://starbulletin.com/2008/05/28/news/story03.html
May 28, 2008
Police say shootings were murder-suicide
By Gene Park
gpark@starbulletin.com
Police classified Monday’s Halawa Heights shooting as a murder-suicide case, the second on Oahu in 32 days.
A 60-year-old man shot his 45-year-old wife in the head, before turning the 9 mm handgun on himself in their Halawa Heights apartment shortly after 6:39 p.m., investigators said.
The city Medical Examiner’s Office is not yet releasing the couple’s identities, but a co-worker identified the woman as Marissa Dumlao, and her husband as Eliseo Dumlao Jr.
Monday’s shooting comes just after a month when Domingo “Bunny” Dikito shot his wife Della Dikito before killing himself at their Ewa Beach home on April 25.
Such cases show the importance of reaching out for help, said Suzanne Green, a domestic violence educator for the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
“We’re always glad there’s coverage because this has been such a secret and silencing crime,” Green said. “The longer we keep it silent, the more women get hurt and the more we continue to blame them.”
Green said she is disheartened to read online comments about how women in murder-suicide cases should learn to restrain what they say if they see their spouse’s anger rise.
“It’s irrational thinking by our society that what we do causes violence,” Green said. “When someone gets their car stolen, we don’t blame them for getting it stolen. A crime is a crime, and someone’s choice of hurting someone else is their choice.”
Police responded at 6:39 p.m. Monday to a dropped 911 call at 99-801 Halawa Heights Road in Aiea.
Officers entered the second-story unit through a back window and found the couple dead. A 9 mm semiautomatic handgun was found on Eliseo’s chest. Marissa is survived by an 18-year-old daughter, who was not living with them, police said. The couple recently was married.
Eliseo Dumlao was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in 1999 and in 2002.
According to accounts from neighbors, the couple’s landlord and friend Aurora Doble, there were little signs of possible domestic troubles. Doble worked with Marissa at Maile’s Lei Stand at the Honolulu Airport.
“Only lately she has been quiet,” said Doble, adding that Marissa began work at the stand in October last year. “Somehow I could sense that she had problems, but I didn’t ask.”
Doble said she found out about the case when she saw morning news footage of the couple’s apartment. Doble had given Marissa a ride home to the apartment before.
Doble said although she did not know the couple well, her husband knew Eliseo because they served in the Navy together.
“I’ll always remember when before she would come to work, she would pass by the bakery,” Doble said. “I’m going to miss her buying my favorite pastries. I’m really going to miss her.”
Green said the group will plan a silent march, just as they did for Della Dikito when she was shot by her husband in April’s murder-suicide case. She also advised others who are in fear of a similar situation to reach out to victims advocates for help.
“They won’t be forced to do anything or take any action,” Green said. “They’ll just find someone that will listen to them and not blame them.”
Leave a Reply