HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
EAST HAWAII CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION
LIEUTENANT STEVEN GUILLERMO
PHONE: 961-2252
FEBRUARY 9, 2004
MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE
Police have reclassified a coroner’s inquest to a murder case in the death of a man whose body was found in the ruins of a Puna fire last month.
East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section detectives reclassified the case Monday (February 9, 2004) after an investigation and autopsy results determined that the victim had suffered a fracture and stab wounds in his upper body, indicating he had died of foul play.
The victim was identified as Dion A. Kluz, 42, of Hawaiian Paradise Park. He was also known as Christopher Kluz, Dijon Kluz and Dijon Kluzak.
Kluz’s body was found in the smoldering remains of a house on 18th Avenue that had been completely destroyed by fire January 14, 2004, in Hawaiian Paradise Park.
Responding to an 8:15 a.m. call from neighbors, police and firefighters arrived to find the house totally engulfed in flames. After extinguishing the blaze, they found the charred body of a victim inside. The body was so badly burned, the identity and sex of the victim could not be immediately determined. Kluz was later identified through dental records and his Hawaii driver’s license.
Anyone who may have associated with Kluz or knows anything about the fire or his death is asked to call East Hawaii CIS Detectives Richard J. Sherlock at 961-2379 or Robert F. Wagner at 961-2380 or the police non-emergency number at 935-3311.
Those who wish to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona. The numbers are answered 24 hours a day. Callers will be given a coded number and their identity will remain anonymous. Callers may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 if their call leads to an arrest, indictment or the recovery of property. Crime Stoppers neither subscribes to “Caller ID,” nor does it record phone calls.
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