A man arrested Wednesday night for allegedly stabbing his wife to death is a felon who escaped being tried in 1998 for allegedly stabbing a woman and trying to set her on fire.

Roy William Hartsock, 40, has a long criminal history with 27 convictions dating back 20 years.

He has been charged with second-degree murder in Honolulu's first homicide of 2008.

His wife, Jenny T. Hartsock, 39, was found lying in the hallway in front of their apartment at 757 Gulick Ave. She was pronounced dead at 9:38 p.m. after firefighters and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to a call.

She had been stabbed multiple times outside the apartment, and died of a wound to the chest. Police have found the murder weapon, a long kitchen knife.

"Anytime anyone is murdered it is a tragic situation," said Honolulu police Capt. Frank T. Fujii. "We all are very concerned about domestic violence, violent crimes and all crime."

Roy Hartsock was arrested at 10:27 p.m. after police found him at the corner of Haka Drive and King Street.

According to police, witnesses heard the couple arguing before Jenny Hartsock yelled for help. It is unclear what the two may have been arguing about.

He allegedly fled the scene and went to a nearby fire station, where he told firefighters someone had stabbed his wife.

Hartsock's 27 convictions date to August 1987, and include second-degree assault, first-degree burglary and second-degree robbery.

PREVIOUS TRIAL AVOIDED

A decade ago, Hartsock avoided being tried for alleged attempted murder after a Circuit Court judge on Sept. 9, 1998, dismissed charges.

Hartsock allegedly threatened to kill himself and Mildred B. Kam, 47, at Kam's Kalihi apartment, then tried to stab her with a letter opener, according to police at the time.

He also allegedly doused Kam with rubbing alcohol and tried to set her on fire.

Prosecutors could not locate Kam, and the late Circuit Judge John Lim threw out charges of second-degree attempted murder, terroristic threatening and criminal property damage.

City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said Honolulu police officers and in-house investigators made numerous attempts to locate Kam.

"It appeared she (Kam) was evading process because there were so many efforts to try and locate her," Carlisle said.

Prosecutors wanted to use written statements made by Kam implicating Hartsock but the judge declined and dismissed the case with prejudice, "over the objections of the state," Carlisle said.

ALLEGED VICTIM HID

During Hartsock's preliminary hearing, Kam testified that Hartsock had tried to kill himself and not her, recanting statements she had given to police at the scene.

Prosecutors were unable to serve Kam a subpoena because she went into hiding for about three months.

Kam was arrested and charged with murder in 1973 but was acquitted in 1974. She was convicted of second-degree felony theft in 1994.

Hartsock had appeared on "America's Most Wanted" after he escaped from the O'ahu Community Correctional Center in December 1990 using court documents forged by scam artist Todd Mueller.

Hartsock had been serving time for a second-degree robbery conviction. Hartsock and Mueller were arrested three weeks later in Chicago.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.