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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, April 22, 2010

2 who 'dismembered' Hawaii man in drug dispute indicted for murder


By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

Murder defendants Joshua Williams and Michael Connolly dismembered victim Jamil Khan by "cutting off his arms and legs and head" and then threw the remains in a "trash receptacle," a prosecutor said in court today.

Williams, 25, and Connolly, 29, were indicted by the Oahu grand jury on charges of murder, arson, auto theft and drug offenses and were ordered held on $2 million bail.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Keith Seto said both defendants and Khan, 24, were growing marijuana out of a residence in Makakilo and became involved in a "dispute over drug money and the way the marijuana operation was being operated."

"The two defendants decided to kill the victim" when Khan went over to the Makakilo residence earlier this month, Seto told Circuit Judge Richard Perkins.

Khan "was essentially ambushed by both defendants" and was beaten to death with a hammer, according to Seto.

"After he was dead, they dragged him to the upstairs bathroom where they essentially dismembered him, cutting off his arms, his legs and his head and then disposing of his body in an attempt to hide this murder by placing it in trash bags and throwing it into a trash receptacle," the prosecutor said.

Khan's family said in an e-mail statement issued before today's court hearing that they were "very horrified about the depiction outlined in the news and the killers' evil version of the events leading to the torture and murder of their son."

The family called the descriptions of the murder contained in police and prosecutor reports "the one-sided version of the killers that is motivated by their desire to justify the murder."

And the family said "many people believe that Jamil's outspoken manners against inequities and his tendency to right those wrongs might have cost him his life."

"Unfortunately," the statement continued, "the truth will never be known as it has been silenced forever by these vicious killers."

At the close of today's court session, Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Takata asked Perkins to order Connolly and Williams held without bail because they are risks to flee the state.

Perkins said he did not think he could issue such an order without a separate hearing, but did increase bail from $1 million to $2 million for each defendant.