WAILUKU -- A California man pleaded no contest today to a reduced charge of manslaughter in the killing of his girlfriend, whose body was found last year near Nakalele Point.
Gerald Galaway Jr., 39, also pleaded no contest to kidnapping.
He faces a prison term of 20 to 40 years when he is sentenced Sept. 11.
Galaway and 35-year-old Celestial Dove Cassman, both Santa Cruz residents, had arrived on Maui the day before she was killed Sept. 1. A witness reported seeing him holding her in a chokehold and dragging her into bushes as she kicked and screamed near Mile Marker 38 on Kahekili Highway, according to police.
