How two men’s paths crossed — with tragic consequences

Malik Dosouqi’s life was taking a troubling turn. John Sione Pekipaki was working to put his back on track.

On Thursday, as Dosouqi, in custody on suspicion of having killed Pekipaki and possibly another man, was recovering in a hospital from unspecified injuries, San Mateo Sheriff investigators continued to probe how the two men’s lives came to intersect on a remote stretch of Skyline Boulevard earlier this week, with tragic conse

quences.

Pekipaki, 31, was working to rebuild his life and reconcile with the mother of his two children, Viliami, 12 and Pamela, 1, after some scrapes with the law that led to a divorce.

“It’s very sad for me and my family,” said Uatesoni Felila, the father of Pekipaki’s former wife and grandfather of their children, who lives in Las Vegas. “He always loved my daughter and his kids.”

As a child Dosouqi, now 26, rode bikes with his younger brother and his friend Jeremy Mankainiu, and visited the convenience store their father owned, said Mankainiu, who attended elementary and middle school with Dosouqi and lives a few houses down from him in Pacifica. But, he added, in recent years, Dosouqi had seemed to change, and became much less outgoing.

“He didn’t talk to us, he doesn’t wave any more,” Manukainiu said. “Sometimes he’ll walk his dog and he’ll stop right in front of our driveway and just stare at us, which was weird — didn’t say anything, just stood and stared.”

The sheriff’s office was tight-lipped, offering little news about the two fatal stabbings earlier in the week along the scenic mountain ridgeline north of Sky Londa.

“Malik Dosouqi is still being treated for his injuries and has not yet been booked into the San Mateo County Jail,” sheriff Lt. Stephanie Josephson wrote in a news statement early Thursday. “There are no further updates at this time.”

Sheriff deputies found the first stabbing victim, 32-year- old taxi driver Abdulmalek Nagi Nasher, at about 11:30 p.m. Monday when a sheriff’s deputy saw his body in a dirt turnout just off of Skyline Boulevard near the Skeggs Point vista in the El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve.

Around 11:55 p.m. Tuesday night, deputies who had returned to the homicide scene to search for more evidence heard a person calling for help about 50 yards from their location. They found Pekipaki suffering from multiple stab wounds, then saw Dosouqi driving toward them. They fired at his car, which swerved and crashed into a ditch.

Dosouqi wasn’t shot, Josephson said, and was taken into custody on suspicion of stabbing Pekipaki, who died at the scene. But Josephson said Dosouqi was taken to a hospital for treatment of “laceration” and would not be booked into the county jail until he was medically cleared. She wouldn’t say more, citing the ongoing investigation, and did not respond to inquiries Thursday afternoon.

Nasher, of Pacifica, leaves behind a wife, Anwar, and their four-year- old daughter, Yomna.

Other neighbors on Thursday described Dosouqi as quiet and reserved, though some interactions with him seemed strange. The first time writer Zak Jarvis talked with Dosouqi in the three years he has lived just down the street from him came about a year and a half ago, as Jarvis made repairs in his backyard that, like others on the block, looks out onto the Pacific Ocean on the days the neighborhood isn’t socked in by fog.

“I was out there taking stuff off the deck,” Jarvis said, “and he was standing on the roof of their house and — it was a really gorgeous day — asked me if I wanted to go for a walk with him.”

Jarvis declined, and said that was the only interaction he can remember with Dosouqi.

Still, each of the neighbors said they were shocked to hear that Dosouqi now stands accused in a brutal homicide.

“Never really seen anything like that before in my life,” Manukainiu said. “We’re scared.”

On Wednesday afternoon, police cars and officers in body armor swarmed the residential Pacifica neighborhood where Dosouqi lived with his parents and younger brother, said Manukainiu, 22.

Dosouqi’s mother answered the door, and screamed when police arrived, Manukainiu said.

“They jumped out and they’re banging on the door,” he said. “She was frightened, she was afraid.”

Officers searched the family’s home and Dosouqi’s car — a white BMW parked in front of the house, Manukainiu said. No one answered the door at the twostory gray home Wednesday evening.

Earlier this year, Dosouqi was arrested on misdemeanor charges of resisting an officer and disturbing the peace. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Dosouqi had been walking along the side of Highway 1 in Half Moon Bay and kept trying to touch firefighters who had come to check on him, then struggled with several officers who tried to pull him away from the road. Dosouqi pleaded no contest to a count of disturbing the peace on May 31 and was sentenced to probation.

Pekipaki had had his scrapes with the law too, from traffic violations to an apparent felony. On his Facebook page, he celebrated completion of his sentence, posting a photo of a Jan. 31 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation notice that he has been discharged from “all existing felony commitments.”

Felila said his son- in law moved back in with his daughter, Otoota, for a while after that to be with their children. But Felila said Pekipaki returned to the San Francisco area to find work and rebuild his life, with the intent of reconciling with his former wife, who got a divorce when he got into legal trouble. Pekipaki took a job driving a tow truck for Specialty Towing, based in East Palo Alto. The company did not return a call for comment. Pekipaki apparently was answering a tow call when he was killed.

On his facebook page, Pekipaki’s posts showed how much he valued his family.

“Lucky are those whose grandparents are still alive,” said one. “Happiness is when your child comes to you and hugs you just because.”

Pekipaki’s mother died in 2012, and a note he apparently left on her online obituary showed his wrenching sorrow over her loss.

“My mom was the best u could ever ask 4,” the note said. “I did her wrong so many times n it hurts so bad that I never got a chance say sry. I will never have peace within my self till I get the chance to in heaven. Love u mom always n4 ever.”

Felila said Pekipaki named his daughter, Pamela, after his mother.

Felila said he spoke to Pekipaki just last week, “when he called and sent money to my daughter.

“He said, ‘ I’m coming over to take care my kids,’ and I said, ‘ John that’s the right thing to do, take care of your family.”

Felila and other family members were too distraught to say much more. They plan on coming to California for Pekipaki’s funeral.

“He’s a very, very good man,” Felila said, holding back tears. “I miss him, I really miss him.”