Charges upheld for man accused of setting van on fire
Woman and dog were asleep inside when blaze started
WAILUKU — A 45-yearold woman said she “woke up to flames” and that the van she had been sleeping in was engulfed “within minutes,” as a judge upheld charges Monday against the man accused of setting the van on fire.
Cynthia Galgay said Monday that after seeing the flames outside her Ford van, she immediately looked for her dog, who was “looking really scared.” The two were able to escape from the van that was parked in front of the Kenolio Recreation Complex along South Kihei Road in the early morning hours of Dec. 8.
During a preliminary hearing Monday afternoon in Wailuku District Court, Galgay said that she was in the van sometime late evening or early morning when she heard a side door close. She got up and saw defendant Shiane Marumoto walking at a brisk pace toward her van. Galgay, who straps the doors open so she can get a breeze while in the van, said the door closing was “a little strange” as it wasn’t very windy.
Galgay said she knew Marumoto from a prior incident in August when he threatened to kill her, so after spotting him walking toward her van that night, she made sure he couldn’t see her. She then fell back asleep and awoke to the flames.
Judge Kirstin Hamman found there was probable cause to support the charges of attempted second-degree murder and first degree arson for the 40-year-old Marumoto.
Marumoto is scheduled to appear in Circuit Court on Dec. 23. His bail remained at $1 million Monday.
Galgay said that after parking her van in a well-lit area along the Kenolio Recreational Center fence Dec. 7, she had seen Marumoto “yelling and screaming” around the Kihei
Youth Center area nearby. Galgay also witnessed him yelling and screaming in the same area back in August. She said he threw something at her van and she yelled at him to get away. He also threatened to kill her, Galgay said. Police responded to the scene.
Marumoto apologized to Galgay the next morning, she said.
Galgay told Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Anderson-Teshima that Marumoto apologized for throwing things at her van, but said he didn’t realize he also threatened her.
Galgay added that Marumoto told her that he was “messed up.”
Defense attorney John Parker asked Galgay during crossexamination if she saw Marumoto
light the fire or if she saw him with an incendiary device. She said she did not, and also acknowledged that she did not see Marumoto after the fire.
Maui Police Detective Christopher Schmitt, who handled the arson investigation, said during the hearing that he found containers of Kingsford lighter fluid about a fourth full, along with matchsticks, lighters and larger grill-type lighters in a campsite nearby, along with items including prescriptions with Marumoto’s name on them, bank statements and a credit card that also belonged to Marumoto.
Schmitt said it was determined that the van battery or engine was not the cause of the fire, as the engine was not fully burned. A propane tank used to power a stove was also still intact.
Schmitt also read from a police report from officers who were initially at the scene that said Marumoto threatened to throw lighter fluid on them. Marumoto also allegedly said, “Burn everyone. Light them on fire,” according to the report.
When Parker asked Schmitt why those officers were not present Monday, Schmitt said he didn’t know.
Parker told Hamman that “no evidence was presented today” that ties Marumoto to setting fire to the van. He called it “extreme hearsay” and said “it’s just too tenuous there is probable cause here.”