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Extensive searches followed Monsalve’s disappearance

Lead investigator testifies in ongoing murder trial of suspect Bernard Brown

Detective Oran Satterfield testifies Thursday during the trial of Bernard Brown, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder of Moreira “Mo” Monsalve, who was last seen at Brown’s apartment at Iao Parkside the night of Jan. 12, 2014. In court on Thursday, Satterfield described the search of the landfill, beach parks and other areas of Maui following Monsalve’s disappearance. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

WAILUKU — In the days, then months after Moreira “Mo” Monsalve was reported missing, police searched for her, checked with airlines and gathered electronic evidence, the lead investigator in the case testified Thursday.

“We interviewed numerous people,” police Detective Oran Satterfield said, outlining efforts that continued as the months stretched into years.

“Did they reveal the location of Ms. Monsalve or where she may have gone?” Deputy Prosecutor J.W. Hupp asked.

“No,” Satterfield replied.

He testified in the 2nd Circuit Court trial of Monsalve’s ex-boyfriend, Bernard Brown, 51, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder of Monsalve. The 46-year-old mother of three was last seen at his apartment at Iao Parkside the night of Jan. 12, 2014.

Police evidence specialist Anthony Earles testifies Thursday. Earles said he sprayed luminol to check for blood on surfaces on Feb. 28, 2014 in Bernard Brown’s vacated apartment. Seven areas fluoresced to give a presumptive indication that there may have been blood. One of the areas, a 10-inch “swoosh” above a light switch on a living room wall, turned bright pink in a presumptive positive indication of blood in a phenolphthalein test, Earles said. Samples were recovered, though lead investigator Oran Satterfield said evidence sent to the lab for DNA analysis didn’t further the investigation.

Satterfield, who assisted in the investigation when Monsalve was reported missing two days later, became the lead investigator Jan. 21, 2014.

Starting Jan. 18, 2014, police were assisted by two state Civil Defense cadaver dogs that could identify human remains in searching areas including Waipoli Road, Kahekili Highway, Waiehu Golf Course and Piihana Road and Eha Street, which is behind Maui Disposal in Wailuku and “up the street from the defendant’s residence,” Satterfield said.

He said the dogs were used in a search Jan. 24 to 25, 2014, of the area of the Central Maui Landfill where garbage collected the week of Jan. 12 had been dumped. The surface search was followed by a landfill excavation of the same area April 6 to 7, 2014, Satterfield said. “We excavated 2,200 tons of garbage,” he said, with the dogs screening the garbage layer by layer.

There also were searches in September 2015 of Waihee River, Camp Maluhia, the waterfront near the old Y Hata building and Makamakaole Gulch past Waihee. In February 2019, Keopuolani Park and Kanaha Beach Park were searched for what would have been skeletal remains, Satterfield said. And in April 2019, a search covered Haleki’i-Pihana Heiau Sate Monument, which is near a reservoir and within minutes of Brown’s apartment, Satterfield said.

He said K-9 handlers used GPS to track the dogs’ movements.

On Jan. 16, 2014, after police received a report that Monsalve’s pink Coach purse had been found in a dumpster at Papohaku Park in Wailuku, Satterfield went into the dumpster to search with Detective Nelson Hamilton and police evidence specialist Vincent Souki.

He testified that Monsalve’s work lanyard was found in the dumpster, along with bills, titles to vehicles and college financial aid paperwork with her name.

Monsalve’s phone was found in pieces in the dumpster.

While the phone was sent to the FBI for analysis, Satterfield said he reviewed call logs for Brown’s phone and called people listed on the logs.

On March 17, 2014, a call to police from Brown — who was on the Mainland — was routed to him, Satterfield said. He said Brown, who was calling to report he was being harassed by Monsalve’s daughter, also talked about the investigation into her disappearance.

“If there’s somebody else involved, then fine, we’ll look at them,” Satterfield says in a portion of the call played in court.

“Well, there definitely is. Somebody else is involved,” Brown says. “I was hoping you had something from her phone or something. I wish I knew. I would tell you. She left with somebody from my apartment, I know that much. She took a blanket, she took a pillow.”

Brown gave his address and phone number during the call, Satterfield said.

He said he didn’t find any leads that someone else was involved in Monsalve’s disappearance.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Randall Hironaka, Satterfield acknowledged that Monsalve supposedly was going to a bar in Wailuku the night she was last seen. He also acknowledged that an Internet Protocol address associated with Brown was also associated with a mini mart on Lower Main Street, according to Hawaiian Telcom. The bar and mini mart are a five- to six-minute walk from Iao Parkside, Satterfield said.

He said he interviewed witnesses and learned no one had seen Monsalve at the bar the night of Jan. 12, 2014. The owner of the mini mart reported his Internet provider was Roadrunner, Satterfield said.

Hironaka also questioned Satterfield about differences in testimony last week and earlier statements to police by Richard “Rusty” Cambra and Brenda Vigil.

While Cambra testified he remembered the day he found the purse because his bike was stolen while he was in the dumpster, he told police at Papohaku Park that he put the purse in a bag with recyclables and rode his bike home.

Brenda Vigil, who got the purse from Cambra, told police she washed it in the bathroom at Keopuolani Park and dumped its contents in the bathroom without checking it for identification. She testified she looked at the driver’s license in a wallet in the purse and gave cards in the purse to her friend Mitchell to throw away at a gas station.

After police recovered a Hello Kitty wallet with three credit cards belonging to Monsalve on Jan. 30, 2014, Satterfield said he interviewed a woman who reported that Vigil had given the cards to Mitchell and that he and Vigil may have used the cards. The woman also said Mitchell wanted drugs from her and gave her the credit cards to hold, Satterfield said.

Hironaka asked whether the detective reinterviewed Vigil and Cambra based on the new information. Satterfield said no.

He also said he didn’t review criminal history information for Cambra, who has arrests for felony theft.

“Had you known that, would it have made a difference in your decision to not interview him again?” Hironaka asked.

“I was looking at other areas of investigation,” Satterfield replied.

Hironaka asked whether he would have reinterviewed Vigil if he had reviewed her criminal history including arrests for violent misdemeanor and violent felony crimes. “Possibly, if the evidence led to that direction,” Satterfield said.

Asked if he would have interviewed Mitchell and another man involved in turning in the credit cards and reinterviewed the woman who turned in the card had he known their criminal histories, Satterfield said, “Possibly, but again, my investigation led to another direction.”

Satterfield said the woman reported turning in the credit cards because the other man “told her that these cards belonged to Ms. Monsalve.”

“He said, ‘turn them in to the police,’ “ Satterfield said.

He said the cards hadn’t been used after Monsalve disappeared.

Police evidence specialist Anthony Earles took photos and sprayed luminol to check for blood on surfaces Feb. 28, 2014, in the apartment Brown had vacated. Seven areas fluoresced to give a presumptive indication that there may have been blood, he said. One of the areas, a 10-inch “swoosh” above a light switch on a living room wall, turned bright pink in a presumptive positive indication of blood in a phenolphthalein test, Earles said.

He said the tests don’t determine whether the blood is human or nonhuman.

Samples were recovered to be sent for further testing, Earles said.

Satterfield said evidence sent to the lab for DNA analysis didn’t further the investigation.

Judge Peter Cahill is presiding over the trial, which is set to resume Aug. 22.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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