First, a status report. By the end of last week (April 19), more than 110 witnesses had testified in the racketeering trial of former Kamaaina Termite & Pest Control owner, Michael J. Miske Jr.

Precious little of the cumulative testimony has made the news, mostly due to the difficulty of covering such a long trial featuring so many charges, each carrying its own narratives, witnesses, and supporting exhibits.

So many stories. So few reporters. So little time.

Here’s just one of those stories.

A robbery gone bad

I previously wrote about a November 2017 assault on the owner of Aloha Tattoo in Kailua that ended in the death of one of the attackers. That story, published by Civil Beat, was based on affidavits filed by federal investigators in support of Miske-related search warrants that had been unsealed by court order beginning September 2022 (“The Miske Files: A Robbery Gone Bad In Kailua Ends In A Death / Newly released court records are revealing more about what federal prosecutors allege is a years-long criminal enterprise connected to Mike Miske“).

At that time, it appeared the incident might have been a botched robbery involving several of Miske’s closest associates, including his half-brother, John Stancil, and Jacob “Jake” Smith, a mixed martial arts fighter was paid to assault victims on Miske’s orders.

But several witnesses have now linked Miske directly to the assault, describing his role in setting the incident in motion, and later participating in a cover-up. Their testimony has provided a deeper look into the entire event.

The basics

The assault took place late on the afternoon of Monday, November 27, 2017, when two men walked into Aloha Tattoo on Kuulei Road in Kailua. The first man to enter, later identified as 24-year old Dayson Kaae, asked for the owner, Tim Goodrich, by name, and asked a few questions about having a previous tattoo fixed. He was described by other witnesses as appearing stoned, nervous, jittery, and pacing back and forth. A second man, who Goodrich initially identified as Jacob “Jake” Smith, then entered the store wearing a skull mask and carrying a phone. Goodrich saw something in his pocket that might have been a gun.

Suddenly Kaae started punching and kicking Goodrich. The store owner was suddenly in feared for his life, and the safety of others in the store at the time as the assault began.

“I remember worrying about the other guy, who had started to move,” Goodrich said. “That’s when I pulled out my pocket knife and swung for my life.”

Kaae was stabbed several times. He briefly tried to hang on to Goodrich, but then he and the second man ran for the exit.

Both attackers fled to a car waiting in front and took off, but not before Goodrich was able to puncture the two passenger side tires with his knife.

Police officers responding to the scene found the car abandoned just around the corner, with Kaae lying unresponsive on the back seat. He was pronounced dead later that evening.

How it went down

Jacob “Jake” Smith, who pleaded guilty in 2020 to being part of Miske’s racketeering organization and being “on call” to assault people on Miske’s command, testified that Miske directed him to assault the owner of Aloha Tattoo, a small store on Kailua Road.

The request came when Smith and Miske met outside Roy’s Restaurant in Hawaii Kai, not far from Miske’s luxury oceanfront home.

Miske provided little explanation. He told Smith the tattoo shop’s owner had beaten up one of his friends, “Billy,” in front of his family. There was no further explanation, not even the owner’s name, Smith said. Miske said his younger half-brother, John Stancil, knew who it was. Miske said he wanted Smith “smash” him, which meant to put the shop’s owner in the hospital, according to Smith’s testimony.

Smith enlisted Stancil to join him in carrying out the assault. The two were already close. Another witness referred to the pair, along with one of Miske’s cousins, Kaulana Freitas, as the “three amigos” because they were regularly seen hanging out together.

Stancil’s girlfriend testified she had been concerned about John at the time because he was in a “very dark” mood, and had complained that his brother, Mike, wanted him to do some “stupid shit.”

She and Stancil were living together in the Waimanalo home of John’s parents.

Stancil was under pressure to “prove himself” because Miske would put him down, sometimes in front of other people, Smith said during his testimony. On November 27, the day of the Aloha Tattoo assault, Stancil told his girlfriend “he was busy doing a thing.”

Stancil left the house driving an older Camry sedan. He took along a baton he had received from Miske, a skull mask, and gloves. He picked up Smith, Dayson Kaae, and two other friends, Isaiah Kaeo-Cash, and Jayword Reylubong.

Reylubong testified they were just hanging out at first, and he thought they might go to the beach. Instead, Stancil drove to Kailua and parked outside of Aloha Tattoo. They waited outside until shortly after 5 p.m., when Stancil and Kaae got out and entered the store. Smith testified Miske had asked for the assault to be recorded, and Stancil had his phone out and was recording as they entered.

Smith had intended to go into the store with Stancil, but balked because he thought Stancil was being careless, Face-timing with his girlfriend while they were in the car, and putting all of them at risk by recording. So Smith stayed in the car with Kaeo-Cash and Reylubong.

They didn’t know what had happened inside the store until Stancil and Kaae got back to the car. Stancil got in the driver’s seat, while Kaae fell into the back seat on the passenger side.

“Dayson was screaming and holding his stomach,” Smith testified, adding that he watched as the store owner popped the tires with his knife. Smith said Dayson was bleeding a lot and they tried to take him to the hospital, but the tires were flat, and the just made it a short distance around the corner.

“Johnny said we weren’t going to make it,” Smith recounted. Meanwhile, Kaae had “nodded out” in the car.

Stancil was the first to leave when his girlfriend arrived to pick him up. Smith, Kaeo-Cash, and Reylubong, ran across the street to Zippy’s, where they were picked up by Smith’s girlfriend. They left Dayson on the back seat of the Camry.

“We didn’t know what to do,” Smith said.

Coming soon: The coverup