PAHOA, Hawai'i — A pregnant 34-year-old Big Island woman was stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen in an attack that killed her unborn child, and the woman's 14-year-old son was also slain Monday in what police described as a family disturbance.

Police arrested her estranged husband, Tyrone Vesperas, 38, and opened a second-degree murder investigation. He was treated for a stab wound to one leg and was being held in the police cellblock in Hilo last night pending charges.

Vesperas was going through a divorce with the injured woman, who police identified as Cheryl-Lyn Vesperas, 34. The attack occurred in Tyrone Vesperas' home in Puna's 'Ainaloa Estates subdivision.

Tyran Vesperas-Saniatan, 14, was one of the couple's two children. Cheryl Vesperas brought the boy to Vesperas' house each weekend to spend time with his father, according to neighbor Jackie Mack.

Mack said Vesperas and his wife fought at times and said they finally separated after Vesperas returned early last year from a tour in Iraq with the Hawai'i Army National Guard.

Tyrone Vesperas is a quiet, reserved man, Mack said, and said the boy seemed to be growing closer to his father in recent months as the family tried to navigate the divorce. "They were getting so close, they were playing ball together all the time, they were talking," she said.

Mack grieved for Tyran and worried about his mother, Cheryl, but said she is also concerned for Tyrone Vesperas.

"He just lost it," she said of Vesperas. "I'm worried about him, too, because when he realizes what happened ... he's going to freak ... he loved those kids."

Police received a 911 call reporting a disturbance at the home on Paradise Drive in 'Ainaloa at about 11:30 a.m. and found the three with stab wounds. Vesperas-Saniatan suffered a stab wound to the neck and was pronounced dead at Hilo Medical Center at 5:20 p.m., police said.

Police Capt. Larry Weber said the only surviving witnesses to the stabbings were Cheryl and Tyrone Vesperas and said police recovered a knife believed to have been used in the attacks.

Weber said Cheryl Vesperas was almost ready to give birth, but said police do not know whether she was carrying Tyrone Vesperas' child.

Autopsies on Vesperas-Saniatan and the unborn child were scheduled for today. But Weber said Hawai'i law would not allow authorities to charge Tyrone Vesperas with murder in connection with the unborn child even if he is to blame for the death of the fetus.

SERVED IN IRAQ

Tyrone Vesperas is a full-time member of the Hawai'i Army National Guard who deployed to Iraq with the 29th Brigade Combat team from February 2005 through January 2006, said Maj. Chuck Anthony, the guard's spokesman. Vesperas is a staff sergeant, and worked in the G-4 logistics area, Anthony said.

Mack said Vesperas considered returning to Iraq as a civilian contractor after his deployment but decided against it because he didn't want to be separated from his children. He had been working in construction recently, and Cheryl Vesperas worked at a Big Island mortuary, Mack said.

Mack said Vesperas was amazed at how much Tyran had grown while he was in Iraq, and said the two would often shoot baskets in front of their house.

Tyran was an upbeat boy who would skateboard or amuse himself outside with his friends. He was quiet but not shy. Mack said he would sometimes stop by her house to help her pull weeds in the yard.

The Vesperas family had lived in the Paradise Drive home for about 11 years, but Tyrone Vesperas had been living there alone for about the past three months after the couple separated and Cheryl moved into Hilo, Mack said. The couple planned to sell the home, and Tyrone intended to move in with family in the Hilo area, she said.

IRAQ BLAMED

Vesperas visited Mack next door about a week ago, and sometimes he confided in her, Mack said.

She advised Vesperas not to fight with his wife in front of Tyran or the couple's older daughter, and Vesperas told Mack he blamed his tour in Iraq for the divorce. He seemed sad about the split rather than angry, and told Mack that many of his fellow soldiers also divorced.

"He wasn't angry that she kind of did her own thing. He understood it," Mack said. "He's the one who told me that she was alone too long."

The normal family routine in recent months involved weekend visits by Cheryl to drop off Tyran. This past weekend, Mack said she noticed Cheryl coming and going more than usual from the 'Ainaloa house, and "I thought maybe they were trying to make a go of it."

Mack said she heard nothing unusual the morning of the stabbings.

Police ask that anyone with information about the case call Detective Ian Lee Loy at 961-2381, or the police department's non-emergency number at 935-3311.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.