GUILTY HI - Sandra Galas, 27, murdered, Kauai, 25 Jan 2006 *Arrest*

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imamaze

imamaze

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Originally posted by: accordn2me moved to cold case board for discussion

Sandra Galas found dead in her car...

"...27-year-old daughter, Sandra Galas, was found dead in her car around 9:30 p.m. Jan. 25, 2006, at 549 Lei Papa Place, in the ‘Ele‘ele Nani subdivision.
Ms. Galas died of strangulation with a cordlike object and blunt-force trauma to her head, according to her death certificate. Sandra’s father, Lawrence Mendonca, believes that the Kaua‘i Police Department is doing all it can to find his daughter’s killer."

http://kauaiworld.com/articles/2009/...4337225376.txt
 
http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/f7b85aee-802c-11df-8adc-001cc4c002e0.html

24 June 2010

It’s been more than four years since she was found murdered, but for the father of victim Sandra “Sandy” Mendonca Galas, the story of his daughter is very much alive.

Galas was found murdered in her car in ‘Ele‘ele on Jan. 25, 2006.

According to her death certificate, she died by strangulation with a cord-like object and blunt-force trauma to the head.

She was 27 years old.

much more at link
 
...
Sandra Galas
​
images

(May 15, 1978--January 25, 2006)

"What Man Has Destroyed
My Soul He Could Not Touch
I Shall Live Forever"
​

June 24, 2010
http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/f7b85aee-802c-11df-8adc-001cc4c002e0.html
Amanda C. Gregg is a published author and freelance writer. While covering the crime beat for The Garden Island, she worked on the Sandra Mendonca Galas case extensively. She can be reached at agregg@civicmindedbylines.com.

MyDeathSpace.Com
May 15, 2006
http://www.mydeathspace.com/article...ead_in_her_parked_car_on_the_island_of_Kaua_i

Theirs not much I could find on this case online. Most of the links at her website are no longer valid. They were so sure it was the husband that did it that they arrested him for it, but released him after 48 hours for lack of evidence?

How can a man kill his wife in there home, be arrested for it and released later on due to lack of evidence?

++We need LE or a family member here to answer questions++
​
Ill post a picture of the garage she was found in at the end of this posting. The person had to be inside waiting for her to arrive. Theirs no place to hide really outside the garage. They say she was attacked while trying to flee her attacker. I don't know how they know that? Unless the crime scene would indicate that by finding one of her shoes outside the car and the other one in it, or something that indicated she parked in the garage and got out, but then when attacked she got back in the car? It seems it was one or two possibles responsible.
What cleared the husband? What was LE lacking to charge the husband for this crime? ((Did the husband take a polygraph test??))

The following from AMW.
(Information valid as of September 17, 2007)
http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=45061

Cops believe that someone confronted Sandra in her garage and as she was trying to escape, she was strangled with a thin plastic cord. Investigators say that the cord is similar to the cord found on a weed whacker. The autopsy report also indicated blunt force trauma to Sandra's jaw and the entire right side of her face had been bruised.

.Questions for LE or Family member.
1. Instead of confronting her in the garage. What about someone whom was hiding in the backseat on the floor. I have not seen the vehicle, but i read it was a 4door Sedan which is a big car. And one intent on hiding inside to kill her, could have hid themselves inside. And after she parked, and the garage door came down, the killer raised up and hit her on the right side of the face and strangled her. Unless theirs physical evidence she got out first, then tried to get back in and escape? I can see where the husband is in question, but since not charged I am looking way outside the box here. Would like to know if her car glass was tinted, which would have made it easier for someone to lie in wait on the floor in the back. She would not had thought of looking first if anyone was in the vehicle before getting in. How many of us do that? She recently started a new job, so i question any co workers, but then again no report posted of a sexual assault. Just a murder. So once again we go back to the husband, especially since they were going through a nasty divorce at the time.

2. Was the door locks on the vehicle checked to see if it was broken into?

3. Instead of weed eater wire, i was thinking more like fishing line?

4. Did they check the vehicle for any unknown DNA in the backseat floor board?

MAIN QUESTION!
Does LE assume the husband did it, and they are not looking for any other suspect? They just have not charged him because they lack the physical evidence to convict him??



​
 
Kauai is not a very big place.
Since most people fly in and out of there,it should be easy to check flights to and from the island at/around that time.If the person left the island by boat (and they would have left either that day or shortly afterward as Kauai has a small population) then unless it was an unregistered private craft that might also be easily traced.

I'm surprised about using the fishing line/nylon line for the strangulation. Unless the killer had fashioned a garrote using this in advance, then it almost seems like improvisation. Also, (and I'm certain that the police thought of this) the fact that the killer felt confident enough to use such a thin cord in this type of murder tells me that he/she has done this before...successfully.

This also doesn't strike me as being a random act of violence as, again, Kauai is a small island w/ a small population. This person may have known the victim either personally or well enough to know that this type of ambush attack would be successful.
 
From July 2015:

http://thegardenisland.com/news/loc...cle_d2840bfe-8796-5031-b7ba-39a2b6d31147.html

Nine years since the death of his wife, a Kalaheo man indicted for her murder will stand trial next March.

Darren Galas, 43, who was charged with second-degree murder of his estranged wife, Sandra Galas, in 2012, will go on trial March 16, 2016, after his defense filed five stipulations of continuance since 2013.

Relatives of Sandra Galas expressed their disappointment over the trial’s drawn-out process.
Click to expand...

Cannot find anything further, so it looks like the trial was postponed again.
 
From October:

Proceedings for murder suspect could be moved

http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/proceedings-for-murder-suspect-could-be-moved/article_e36b948b-a3e4-521b-a9ac-b2969e89b76a.html

The attorney for a man accused of killing his wife 10 years ago wants to make sure he will get a fair trial.

“We’re preparing for a motion to change location,” said Michael Green. “I didn’t realize the magnitude of her name here, with events like the golf tournament. We need to see if he’ll get a fair trial on this island.”
Click to expand...

On Tuesday, Galas appeared before Judge Kathleen Watanabe on a second-degree murder charge.

During the hearing, Green filed a motion to change venues, which is set to take place on Feb. 6.

But he conceded that it is ultimately up to the Watanabe to decide if the trial should be moved.

It is not clear where Galas’ trial will be held if the motion is approved.
Click to expand...
 
http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/darren-galas-charged-in-death-of-his-wife/article_d0d0e1aa-6a42-5a20-ab98-8b35305da4d3.html

The lawyers in a case against a man accused of killing his wife are trying to determine the voluntariness of his statements to police.

Darren Galas appeared before Judge Kathleen Watanabe on one count of second-degree murder in connection to the 2006 death of Sandra Galas.

Darren Galas was scheduled for a hearing to determine whether two statements he made to the police were freely made.

“For the state to use the statements at trial, it needs to be established that they were made after a knowing and intelligent waiver of his Miranda rights,” said Justin Kollar, prosecuting attorney.

The hearing was continued because Jennifer Winn, first deputy prosecuting attorney, was held up in other court proceedings.
Click to expand...

In October, Green filed a motion to change the venue of Galas’ trial, saying the coverage of Galas’ death in the community may impede his client’s chances for having a fair trial.

Watanabe denied the motion in December.

Galas will be in court again on April 5 for the voluntariness hearing.

His trial is scheduled for Aug. 28.
Click to expand...
 
Murder suspect prepares for trial

http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/murder-suspect-prepares-for-trial/article_2121285d-0983-5649-92db-65ead8d477a2.html

The lawyer for a man accused of killing his wife over a decade ago wants to know how his client’s statements to police were taken.

“There are two statements that will eventually be introduced into trial. I’ve already stipulated to statement No. 1, which is a transcription of a statement. I’m satisfied that statement was voluntary,” said Michael Green.

While he said he doesn’t doubt statements made to the police before a polygraph test were voluntary, Green wants to know how those comments were recorded.

“I need some information about how it was done. There appears to be several pages of handwritten notes that were recorded by the officer that did the questionnaire,” Green said. “I believe what’s in these notes was then recorded onto a police report, so I just need to ask a few questions about that.”
Click to expand...

On Wednesday, Green and Winn questioned Ezra Kanoho, who was an officer with the Kauai Police Department in 2006. He administered a polygraph test to Galas.

“My normal process is questioning someone about the day before and the day after an incident, just to give a time frame,” Kanoho said.

In going over the notes, Green said he noticed Kanoho did not ask a question, but let Galas describe the events in his life leading up to, and after, Sandra Galas was found dead.

“It sounds to me you were making notes and Galas was talking about what he did during various days of the week,” he said. “There wasn’t a single question about what he did before or after his wife is found.”
Click to expand...
 
Estranged husband pleads no contest in connection with wife’s 2006 death

Darren Galas, 46, pleaded no contest Monday to a lesser charge of first-degree assault in connection with the 2006 death of Sandra Galas.
Click to expand...

Murder charge reduced

The fight for justice in the slaying of Eleele woman Sandra Galas has been a long one, her father Larry Mendonca said.

“We’ve been trying to get this case through for 12 years,” he said.

“At her grave site, I made a vow that I wouldn’t end this until justice was served,” Mendoca said. “I told the prosecutors and the police I would be a thorn in their side, (until the case was solved and prosecuted).”

The maximum sentence Galas can receive for the plea is 10 years in prison and up to a $25,000 fine.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 30.
Click to expand...
 
10 years for Galas
http://www.thegardenisland.com/2018/05/31/hawaii-news/10-years-for-galas/
Darren Galas, 46, was sentenced Wednesday by Fifth Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Watanabe to 10 years in prison on an assault one charge, a class B felony, related to the 2006 strangulation death of his estranged wife, Sandra Galas.
Click to expand...

Finding out about his daughter’s death over the phone, Larry Mendonca told the court he felt sick to his stomach, like it was a kick in the gut — horror, pain and shock.

“As a parent, you never want to see your kids hurt. But there I was listening in a matter of minutes that my daughter had been found dead under suspicious circumstances,” Larry Mendonca said.
Click to expand...

For Sandra’s big brother, Lawrence Mendonca Jr., one of the most difficult realizations about his sister’s death is realizing that the many good memories he has of her are smudged with sadness. But that’s not the most difficult thing he’s had to deal with in his sister’s death.

“One of the most painful things that I must deal with is wondering just how much my sister suffered the day she was killed,” he said. “As much as I try to avoid thinking about it, the big brother in me won’t let me off the hook.”
Click to expand...
 
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