I attended the plea change hearing of Kaulana Freitas yesterday. It was in-person, federal court, where most hearings are still being done via Zoom. Next week’s hearing where another co-defendant, Michael Buntenbah, who developed the Defend Hawaii brand, is set to plead guilty, is also set to be in person.

Civil Beat posted my story about the Freitas hearing mid-morning today (“Bad Blood Between Crime Boss And His Son’s Friend Started Over Stolen Watch, Plea Says“).

Check it out.

I had been told the story of the stolen gold watch by two different people back in 2020, but set it aside after failing to find outside evidence of it, and here it was being described both during yesterday’s hearing and included in the Freitas plea agreement, with a bonus.

This “official” version of the story says Jonathan Fraser was able to make a getaway from the confrontation at Kaneohe District Park and then met with HPD officers and reported the incident.

Would it be unreasonable to conclude Fraser became a threat to Miske by talking to police about the confrontation with Miske’s brother, John Stancil, and Kaulana Freitas?

After all, Fraser and Miske’s son, Caleb, had been sharing an apartment for a number of months. Did Caleb share secrets about his father with his closest friend, Johnny Fraser? Could Miske be confident that he did not? I don’t know.

In any case, the dominant narrative put forward so far is that Mike Miske killed Jonathan Fraser out of the uncontrolled rage of a father who blamed Fraser for the death of his son.

Could there be more involved?

Of course, this is just pure speculation. But that’s what makes this case so complex and fascinating.