HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION
CAPTAIN JAMES DAY
PHONE: 961-2251
OCTOBER 6, 2000
MEDIA RELEASE
Two suspects have been arrested and charged in a 1994 slaying and are being held in the Hilo police cellblock in lieu of $350,000 bail each.
They will face arraignment Monday on charges of robbery and second-degree murder in the slaying of Vernon Souza Jr., of Omao, Kauai.
Oliver White, 27, was flown back to the Big Island Friday evening (October 6, 2000) after being extradited from North Dakota.
The second suspect, Jason Santos, 29, was arrested September 27 in Henderson, Nevada, and flown back to the Big Island.
Neither suspect fought extradition to Hawaii.
On September 30, 1994, Big Island police responded to a brush fire at the 16-mile marker off Saddle Road. On arriving, patrol officers discovered Souza’s charred body. The results of an autopsy determined that Souza had died of blunt force trauma to his head and lacerations on his neck.
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