The trial of former Honolulu business owner Michael J. Miske Jr. has been underway for a month, mostly proceeding without much news coverage.

Among the 22 criminal charges are three stemming from the release of the chemical agent chloropicrin in two nightclubs that were competing with Encore, the successor to Miske’s M Nightclub in downtown Honolulu’s Waterfront Plaza. Prosecutors have alleged Miske continued to secretly control Encore after the M closed down and was, on paper at least, sold to its former manager, Jason Yokoyama, who had also claimed to own and control the M, although Miske clearly controlled the business.

The chloropicrin-related charges include conspiracy to use a chemical weapon, and two counts of using a chemical weapon. Originally charged along with Miske were his half brother, John Stancil, and Kaulana Freitas, whose mother is Miske’s cousin.

Both Freitas and Stancil previously pleaded guilty, with Stancil formally entering a guilty plea just hours before the trial got underway. Both admitted to taking part in the chemical attacks, along with two other, Jacob “Jake” Smith and Ashlin Akau, who have also pleaded guilty. Akau and Freitas have testified, while Smith has yet to take the stand.

The government alleges Miske ordered the chemical to be released in The District on a Friday night in early March 2017, and in the Ginza Nightclub the following night.

Two former co-owners of the two nightclubs previously testified about the attacks, and one described the chemical as worse than pepper spray.

The chemical attacks followed an incident in which an officer of the company that owned both the Ginza and District, Bryan Yoshida, had been summoned to a meeting with Miske at the Kamaaina Termite office. Once in Miske’s office, he was assaulted by Jake Smith after Miske signaled to attack. The incident was apparently triggered by a social media post Miske had been offended by, according to Yoshida’s testimony.

Testimony at the end of last week disclosed that a similar chemical attack took place 15 months earlier when an unknown substance was released in the Addiction Nightclub, located in The Modern Honolulu hotel in Waikiki.

This attack occured on December 20, 2015, according to Christopher Ching, the nightclub’s then-director of security, who testified on Friday. He said that a substance was dispersed in the nightclub shortly before closing. He said it felt like pepper spray, causing eyes to burn, coughing, and difficulty breathing.

A server working at the club that night, who also testified on Friday, said she experienced burning eyes, a lot of coughing and gagging, and that she threw up. She said others appeared to have similar symptoms.

Ching testified he had seen John Stancil, Miske’s half brother, and Michael Malone, also known as Michael Buntenbah, in the club that same night, saying they stood out because of their size and tattoos. He described Stancil as big, flashy, and wearing a lot of gold chains. Ching said he had previously “heard” that the two were associated with Miske.

Stancil pleaded guilty on January 22, just hours before he was scheduled to go on trial with Miske. In his plea agreement, Stancil admitted he had provided Smith the chemical chloropicrin to use in the March 2017 nightclub attacks, and gave Smith instructions on how to handle and release the substance. Stancil had access to chloropicrin from Miske’s Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control, which used the chemical when tenting buildings for termite treatment.

Stancil said he knew how to release the chloropierin in a busy nightclub “because he himself had previously dispersed chloropicrin in a crowded Waikiki nightclub in 2015 at Miske’s direction,” according to his plea agreement.

This appears to have been a reference to the 2015 Addiction Nightclub incident, although it was not included among the charges in the indictment.

The trial is expected to contine for several more months.

[A volunteer trial observer contributed to this post, but prefers to remain anonymous.]