No bail given to Wailuku man charged with attempted murder

Prosecutor: Suspect tried to contact wife from jail, violating court orders

WAILUKU — A judge maintained no-bail status for a man charged with attempted murder of his wife, with the prosecution alleging the defendant violated a court order by trying to contact the victim from jail.

At a 2nd Circuit Court hearing Tuesday, Ricardo “Rico” Tavares Jr., 40, of Wailuku asked for bail to be set for him.

He has pleaded not guilty to attempted second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing his wife several times with a kitchen knife, causing lifethreatening injuries, during a Super Bowl party Feb. 7 at their house.

Their children and several family members and friends were present, according to a motion filed by the prosecution asking that Tavares continue to be held without bail.

In a declaration, Deputy Prosecutor Brandon Segal said inmate phone system recordings indicate Tavares tried to call his wife on her cellphone while he was in jail Feb. 17 but the call was restricted or blocked. He also tried to have family members contact her through three-way calls, in violation of inmate phone policies, and tried to have family members text her and go to her house to check on her, according to the declaration.

Tavares’ wife reported receiving calls and text messages from unknown Mainland phone numbers saying, “Ricardo sends his love.” She also reported that his family members had tried to arrange contact between Tavares and her children without her permission.

When Tavares was arraigned Feb. 18, 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill ordered Tavares not to contact his wife and three children, even through family and friends.

The same day, after returning to the Maui Community Correctional Center, Tavares “again asked family members, friends and neighbors to go to the complaining witnesses’ house, check on his family and ‘give the kids my love,’ ” according to the declaration. It said that in phone calls to family members and friends, Tavares said he needed his wife “to be on his side” and “to ride with me,” apparently referring to the criminal case.

The declaration says that in a March 2 phone call, Tavares asked a relative to log into his wife’s Instagram account without her permission. The relative was unsuccessful. Although the relative appeared to be trying to log in, based on the inmate phone recording, she denied she had done that and said she was “pretending” to try to appease Tavares, according to the declaration.

Deputy Public Defender Zach Raidmae said Tavares now had been advised that his conversations with everyone except his attorney were being monitored at the jail.

“I doubt if there’s going to be any more of this behavior, if it’s true,” Raidmae said.

He asked the judge to consider setting bail at $250,000 for Tavares, which would still be “a tremendous amount of money.”

Tavares has a “somewhat dated” criminal history, has a commercial driver’s license and had been working as a truck driver, Raidmae said.

He said Tavares was concerned about his family and the mortgage on their house.

“He would like to contribute to keeping a roof over his children’s heads,” Raidmae said.

He said Tavares could stay with a relative in Makawao.

Segal said the calls that Tavares made began with a warning that he was being monitored and recorded.

“While his attempts may not be successful, he clearly is attempting to subvert this court’s order,” Segal said, in asking for Tavares’ no-bail status to continue.

He said that by trying to hack into his wife’s Instagram account, the relative was “potentially committing a new crime.”

Judge Cahill ordered that Tavares continue to be held without bail and set an Aug. 9 trial.

“At this point, I’m not satisfied that any set of circumstances could ensure the safety of the complaining witness or, frankly, maybe other members of the public who may have been witnesses,” Cahill said.

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