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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, May 18, 2007

Woman was murder suspect's ex-girlfriend

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

Jerrico Lindsey, second from right, and William Freeman, left, appeared in court yesterday in the killing of Benjamin Grajeda, 27, of North Hollywood, Calif. Lindsey and Freeman were arrested after a manhunt on the North Shore earlier this week.

RICHARD AMBO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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TO HELP

Police are asking anyone with information about a fatal shooting in Kane'ohe on Monday night, and about a suspect still at large, to call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300, or *CRIME on your cellular phone.

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The woman at the center of a dispute that ended in the kidnapping and fatal shooting of a California man in Kane'ohe Monday night is the ex-girlfriend of the alleged gunman, according to court documents released yesterday.

Jerrico Dewon Lindsey, 26, one of two men charged with murder in the second degree, is "the ex-boyfriend of the female that was with the victim at the time of the kidnapping," according to the documents.

Police also arrested William Lee Freeman Jr., 35, in the slaying. The woman's name has not been released.

The disclosure about Lindsey's relationship with the woman follows reports that the shooting stemmed from a dispute over her.

Meanwhile, the office of the city medical examiner yesterday identified the victim as Benjamin Grajeda, 27, of North Hollywood, Calif.

Grajeda was with the woman in his residence at the end of a cul-de-sac on Pu'uohala'i Place when the men assaulted him and threw him into the trunk of a Crown Victoria at about 9:59 p.m., according to witnesses and police.

Grajeda escaped by kicking open the trunk and jumping to the street, but a passenger in the car got out and gunned him down in the middle of Kane'ohe Bay Drive near Moakaka Place. The gunman used a pistol-type firearm with "a long barrel and a long magazine," according to documents released yesterday.

Grajeda died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen, according to the medical examiner's office. Police are searching for a third suspect in the case.

Both Lindsey and Freeman, who were arrested after a manhunt on the North Shore Monday night into Tuesday morning, made initial appearances in court yesterday.

Lindsey, the alleged shooter, was charged with one count of murder in the second-degree, four firearm offenses and one count of first-degree terroristic threatening. Second-degree murder is punishable by life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Freeman was charged with kidnapping and hindering prosecution.

Both are being held in lieu of $3 million bail and are set to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

Attorney William Harrison, who is representing Lindsey, said he has not had a chance to discuss the facts of the case with his client. Harrison has met with Lindsey twice and said he is "calm."

"The facts of the case are very sketchy," he said outside court yesterday.

Freeman's attorney, assistant deputy public defender Alen Kaneshiro, declined comment.

Both men appeared in court wearing white jump suits and did not speak during the courtroom proceedings but did confer with their attorneys.

Lindsey was arrested at about 8 a.m. Tuesday when police found him hitchhiking near Laniakea Beach.

According to a police probable-cause affidavit, patrol officer Sheldon Stephenson was searching for suspects in the shooting when he saw a shirtless man matching Lindsey's description wearing wet, dark brown denim shorts and sand-covered shoes standing next to a Toyota station wagon.

The officer pulled up alongside the station wagon near Laniakea Beach Park and Kawailoa Road as Lindsey got into the Toyota's passenger's seat.

The officer asked the driver of the station wagon if he and Lindsey were together. The driver told the officer Lindsey offered him $100 for a ride to Hale'iwa, according to court documents.

The officer noticed several abrasions on Lindsey's shins and asked him for identification, according to the documents.

Upon relaying the information to his commanding officer and the head of HPD's homicide detail, Lt. William Kato, Stephenson was told to arrest Lindsey.

Freeman was caught Monday night after officers stopped the Crown Victoria in the back parking lot of Jameson's By The Sea restaurant in Hale'iwa.

Officer Anthony Shimizu saw the Crown Victoria "speeding and driving left of center" near Sunset Beach Elementary School, court documents said. Shimizu radioed his beat partners and began to follow the Crown Victoria.

At 10:57 p.m., officer James Gombio stopped the Crown Victoria on Kamehameha Highway near Punalau Place. As Gombio approached on foot and Shimizu pulled up in his car, the Crown Victoria sped off toward Jameson's By The Sea.

The officers arrived on scene and were told by a witness that three men left the vehicle and fled in the direction of Joseph P. Leong Highway, according to court documents.

Three officers searched a barn near Lokoea stream and saw Freeman lying on the ground under a piece of sheet metal, according to court documents. Freeman was "sweating profusely" and had "numerous abrasions on both his knees and shins."

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.