Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho yesterday rejected a bid to modify the $25,000 cash bail filed by one of two men who allegedly assaulted a teenager. The victim later died after being run over by two cars.
Camacho ruled that he is not convinced that Herman Selepeo Fitial will be able to control his propensity for violence and comply with the court's orders and conditions of pre-trial release.
Camacho expressed concern about the randomness and brutality of the attack.
“The victim-outnumbered, running away, so afraid for his life that he would run into oncoming traffic, beaten into submission and left on the road seriously injured and eventually dying from his wounds-all for absolutely nothing!” the judge said.
At the hearing, Fitial, through counsel Colin Thompson, offered Fitial's wife as third-party custodian in addition to a property bond in lieu of the $25,000 cash bail.
Both the defendant and the wife are unemployed. To feed his family, Fitial goes fishing everyday. The wife testified that, on the night of the incident, Fitial did not listen to her because he had been drinking alcohol.
In rejecting bail modification, Camacho said he is not convinced that spousal supervision will be enough to control the suspect.
Also, Camacho said, the proposed location of where Fitial will live is in close to the alleged crime scene. The judge said several witnesses currently work at the gas station and stores where this alleged crime happen.
It is alleged that Fitial, 34, and co-defendant Felix Kileleman Jr., 19, where at a store when a fight broke out with the alleged victim, 19-year-old Jefferson Kiauol Keju, in the evening of Jan. 1, 2013 in central Garapan.
At some point, Fitial and his nephew, Kileleman, allegedly chased Keju into the highway where they beat him up.
Lying on the highway, Keju was struck by two cars. He eventually died.
Fitial and Kileleman fled the scene and were later arrested. The driver of a van that first struck the victim also fled, while the operator of the second vehicle stopped and assisted the victim.
The driver of the van was later identified as Woo Hyun Kim, a 31-year-old male who remains a fugitive.
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