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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Parole minimum doubled for man who set wife on fire

Advertiser Staff

A 58-year-old Kaua'i man sentenced to life in prison in 2001 for killing his wife by setting her on fire has had his parole minimum doubled to 120 years.

The Garden Island Newspaper reported Saturday that a legal wrinkle allowed Gregory Aguiar to request that the minimum term he must serve be changed.

Paroling Authority Division Administrator Max Otani says that based on the nature of the offense and degree of loss, the minimum term Aguiar must serve was increased from 60 to 120 years after a hearing.

Miu Lan Esposo-Aguiar died in 2000, three weeks after she was doused in cleaning fluid and set aflame during a domestic quarrel at the couple's home in 'Ele'ele.

Aguiar was sentenced to life in prison after pleading no contest to second-degree murder. Prosecutors had agreed to not seek a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

"It was heartbreaking. It brought up all the emotions and feelings all over again," Colleen Louis, sister of the victim, said last Wednesday. "Having to relive this horrible nightmare and seeing him felt like it only happened yesterday."