Hawai‘i Supreme Court upholds life sentence for man who murdered elderly landlord

A former ʻŌmaʻo man will remain behind bars for the murder of his elderly landlord after Hawai‘i Supreme Court on Sept. 17 — with a 5 to 0 decision — reversed a Hawai‘i Intermediate Court of Appeals ruling that previously overturned his 2021 conviction.

Kaua‘i County Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Like announced the high court’s decision in a press release.

Peter Grewer stabbed his 67-year-old wheelchair-bound landlord Joellen Hartman to death June 18, 2018, at her Kōloa home. She was stabbed 17 times.

Following lengthy pretrial discovery, multiple defense motions to suppress and pandemic-related delays, Grewer’s trial began in April 2021.

Prosecutors produced overwhelming evidence to show Grewer killed Hartman, including testimony from 23 witnesses, circumstantial evidence and forensic DNA evidence found on Grewer’s bloodied clothing and underneath Hartman’s fingernails.

Evidence also showed that Grewer, who was Hartman’s tenant in an ʻohana unit on her property, was evicted June 18, 2018, the same day of her brutal murder.

Grewer was convicted of second-degree murder following the jury trial. Because of the heinous and cruel nature of the crime as well as Hartman’s advanced age, prosecutors sought extended and enhanced sentencing.

He was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole, and has been in custody since June 19, 2018.

Grewer appealed his conviction based on comments made by a potential juror about wanting to be excused from jury duty.

The court was made aware of the comments, all potential jurors who heard the comments were interviewed by the judge and the potential juror was excused from jury duty.

Furthermore, the judge reminded all potential jurors to disregard all statements about the case from prospective jurors.

Grewer argued that those comments violated his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.

The Hawai‘i Intermediate Court of Appeals, in a 2 to 1 decision, agreed that Grewer’s right to a fair trial was violated and overturned his murder conviction, sending it back to Circuit Court for a new trial.

Kaua‘i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney petitioned Hawai‘i Supreme Court to hear the case.

Kaua‘i County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tracy Murakami handled the petition.

Hawai‘i Supreme Court’s opinion issued Wednesday found:

• The Circuit Court investigation into the juror’s comments was adequate.
• Instructions given to the jury were sufficient to address any prejudice that could have arisen from the potential juror’s comments.
• Any prejudice caused by the comments was harmless in light of the overwhelming, uncontradicted physical evidence of Grewer’s guilt.

The high court also affirmed the Circuit Court conviction and sentence.

“Our office, with our law enforcement partners, celebrate today’s Hawai‘i Supreme Court decision reversing the [Intermediate Court of Appeals] and restoring Grewer’s conviction in this heinous, premeditated, callous murder of a vulnerable Kaua‘i resident,” said Like in her announcement. “We are grateful to the many individuals who worked tirelessly on this case and we hope this decision provides some solace to the victim’s friends and family. We are relieved that this defendant will never walk the streets again.”

The investigation was handled by Kaua‘i Police Department Detectives Chris Calio and Darren Rose, with support from Officer Jonathan Bonachita.

Kaua‘i County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Arakawa and former Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kimberly Torigoe Metcalfe litigated the trial.