There’s has been considerable testimony in the Miske trial so far about the use and misuse of chemicals used in termite treatment.

Some of that has focused on the use of the chemical chloropicrin to attack rival nightclubs. Other testimony has focused on the alleged failure to properly store, handle, and use of chemicals by Miske’s Kamaaina Termite and Pest Control.

One of the trial witnesses on Wednesday, April 10, was Steve Russo (photo from his LinkedIn profile). He’s a veteran of the pest control industry and has worked for several pest control companies, and is the current president of the Hawaii Pest Control Association. He was an environmental health specialist for the Department of Agriculture from 2009 through 2017, where he did inspections and training. In this capacity, he was one of those responsible for the Ag Department’s enforcement of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Russo said that he was driving through Hawaii Kai on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, and passed a home on Hawaii Kai Drive which was tented for fumigation and displayed a Vikane placard warning that the odorless but potentially lethal chemical was being used.

When he drove by again 15 to 20 minutes later, Russo said the tents were being taken off, the warning sign was no longer posted, and there were no secondary locks on the entrances, which would have allowed the owners to reenter the home before it was fully safe. Russo said he was concerned, and stopped.

“The label is the law,” Russo said, echoing a mantra that other witnesses have also previously used.

When Vikane is used, federal law requires warning signs to be displayed on all sides of the building with contact information, and after tents are removed, the label requires the signns to remain until it is safe to reenter the building, which usually takes about 6-8 hours, Russo said. A device to measure the presence of Vicane gas is used to determine when it is safe. Until then, secondary locks on the entries are required so building residents can’t return too early, which could potentially cause serious health concerns.

Russo said he stopped, called Kamaaina Termite, and waited until someone arrived to secure the area. It was about 30 minutes before Jason Smith, a licensed applicator for Kamaaina Termite, arrived to put up the warning signs and install the door locks.

Russo said he then received a phone call from Miske, who told him Vikane had not actually been used because it was just a “photo shoot.” Miske said the homeowner would be in touch to confirm the tents were only up as part a photo opportunity.

About an hour later, Russo said he spoke to the homeowner, Jon Dahl, who backed up Miske’s story and completed a statement attesting to the truth of the photo shoot explanation.

However, Russo testified the scenario seemed implausible. From his knowledge of the industry, Russo said every company has only a certain number of tarps. To leave a tarp unattended is odd, and it would have required too many resources for a photo shoot. It takes trucks, tarps, and workers, all of which are in limited supply. And in a photo shoot, you would want to be accurate and legal, showing placards and locks in place, he said.

In addition, when homes are sold, there is typically a requirement to treat them for termites using Vikane, Russo said. Dahl and his wife were just in the process of buying the Hawaii Kai home.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Inciong asked Russo what he would have done if he learned Miske was not being truthful.

“I would’ve put it in my report,” Russo said, “and contact my supervisor for escalation.”

If the story was false, “it means you are lying to law enforcement,” he said.

Russo’s testimony was just a piece of the puzzle, as prosecutors continue to put the picture together for the jury on each of the relevant counts.

What the jury didn’t hear, at least not during Russo’s testimony, is that the new homeowner, Jon “Sudee” Dahl, who backed up Miske’s “photo shoot” explanation, was not simply a client who happened to have hired Miske’s company to fumigate his newly purchased home.

Miske and Dahl were friends and business partners, and Dahl had just received a $550,000 mortgage loan from Kamaaina Termite to finance the purchase of the house.

A warranty deed transferring the property to Dahl from its former owners was recorded with the state Bureau of Conveyances on May 12, 2011, the day after the tenting incident. Both the new warranty deed and the Kamaaina Termite mortgage were signed by Dahl and his wife on May 5, and countersigned by the sellers on May 10, before being filed with the Bureau on the 12th, where they were assigned consecutive document numbers.

Miske and Dahl had crossed paths in the Teamster’s film unit, where both have been drivers in the past. Dahl is the owner of Hawaii Film Trucks And Equipment LLC, a company that provides vehicles for film productions.

In 2002, Dahl was charged with assault after fight with a driver from another Teamster faction. The charges were dismissed “without prejudice” after the victim failed to appear in court. Prosecutors did not refile the charges.

State business registration records show Miske and Dahl registered a new company, Kamaaina Rolloffs LLC, in January 2009. It was registered to do business at the same Queen street address as Kamaaina Termite and other Miske companies. The two were listed as the new company’s sole officers or members. However, there was no further activity, and the company may not have ever done any business.

Later, in August 2014, Miske, Dahl, and a third person, Jill Perry, registered another new company, Laura Ann Fisheries LLC, which owned the 69′ fishing vessel, Laura Ann. The company was initially registered at the Queen Street address shared by Miske’s various companies. Miske purchased his own fishing 90 foot longline tuna boat, Rachel, in December 2010. It was registered to Miske’s Kamaaina Holdings LLC.

Perry is the wife of Bruce Perry, a former stevedore was tried on assault charges stemming from the 1994 beating of a co-worker on the Matson docks. The victim, Rocky Tahara, had complained that as many as a dozen employees, including Perry, were “ghost” workers who disappeared soon after beginning their shifts, but received their full dailly pay. Tahara was left blinded in one eye, and eventually won a civil judgement against Perry for $2.3 million, but was never able to collect the money.

Bruce Perry faced two criminal trials for assault, but both trials ended with a hung jury. Perry died in November 2021.