The 1932 murder of Joseph Kahahawai Jr. put the spotlight on the issues of racism and injustice in Hawaii.
In 1930, socialite Thalia Massie had moved to Honolulu with her Navy officer husband, Lt. Thomas Massie. In 1931, Thalia Massie claimed to have been beaten and raped on the night of Sept. 12 by five men, including Kahahawai. A trial of the five men ended on Dec. 6, 1931 in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
On Jan. 8, 1932, Joseph Kahahawai Jr. was kidnapped and murdered by Grace Fortescue (mother of Thalia Massie), Thomas Massie and two other Navy men, Albert O. Jones and Edward J. Lord. All four were eventually convicted of manslaughter but their 10-year sentence was commuted to just one hour in the governor's office.
After the commutation of the sentences imposed on Mrs. Fortescue, Massie, Lord, and Jones, the territorial legislature commissioned The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, who determined that the five accused men could not have committed the crime, and that there was no evidence of Thalia Massie having been raped night. Their report stated that the alleged attackers "had no opportunity to commit the kidnapping and the rape...We have found nothing in the record of the case, nor have we through our own efforts been able to find what in our estimation would be sufficient corroboration of the statements of Mrs. Massie to establish the occurrence of rape upon her."
The four surviving alleged attackers of Mrs. Massie were never retried and spent the remainder of their lives in Hawaii. In 1934, two years after the murder, the Massies were divorced. Thalia Massie committed suicide in 1963.
Notable on the gravestone is that it plainly communicates "killed" on Jan. 8, 1932.
In 1930, socialite Thalia Massie had moved to Honolulu with her Navy officer husband, Lt. Thomas Massie. In 1931, Thalia Massie claimed to have been beaten and raped on the night of Sept. 12 by five men, including Kahahawai. A trial of the five men ended on Dec. 6, 1931 in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
On Jan. 8, 1932, Joseph Kahahawai Jr. was kidnapped and murdered by Grace Fortescue (mother of Thalia Massie), Thomas Massie and two other Navy men, Albert O. Jones and Edward J. Lord. All four were eventually convicted of manslaughter but their 10-year sentence was commuted to just one hour in the governor's office.
After the commutation of the sentences imposed on Mrs. Fortescue, Massie, Lord, and Jones, the territorial legislature commissioned The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, who determined that the five accused men could not have committed the crime, and that there was no evidence of Thalia Massie having been raped night. Their report stated that the alleged attackers "had no opportunity to commit the kidnapping and the rape...We have found nothing in the record of the case, nor have we through our own efforts been able to find what in our estimation would be sufficient corroboration of the statements of Mrs. Massie to establish the occurrence of rape upon her."
The four surviving alleged attackers of Mrs. Massie were never retried and spent the remainder of their lives in Hawaii. In 1934, two years after the murder, the Massies were divorced. Thalia Massie committed suicide in 1963.
Notable on the gravestone is that it plainly communicates "killed" on Jan. 8, 1932.
The 1932 murder of Joseph Kahahawai Jr. put the spotlight on the issues of racism and injustice in Hawaii.
In 1930, socialite Thalia Massie had moved to Honolulu with her Navy officer husband, Lt. Thomas Massie. In 1931, Thalia Massie claimed to have been beaten and raped on the night of Sept. 12 by five men, including Kahahawai. A trial of the five men ended on Dec. 6, 1931 in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
On Jan. 8, 1932, Joseph Kahahawai Jr. was kidnapped and murdered by Grace Fortescue (mother of Thalia Massie), Thomas Massie and two other Navy men, Albert O. Jones and Edward J. Lord. All four were eventually convicted of manslaughter but their 10-year sentence was commuted to just one hour in the governor's office.
After the commutation of the sentences imposed on Mrs. Fortescue, Massie, Lord, and Jones, the territorial legislature commissioned The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, who determined that the five accused men could not have committed the crime, and that there was no evidence of Thalia Massie having been raped night. Their report stated that the alleged attackers "had no opportunity to commit the kidnapping and the rape...We have found nothing in the record of the case, nor have we through our own efforts been able to find what in our estimation would be sufficient corroboration of the statements of Mrs. Massie to establish the occurrence of rape upon her."
The four surviving alleged attackers of Mrs. Massie were never retried and spent the remainder of their lives in Hawaii. In 1934, two years after the murder, the Massies were divorced. Thalia Massie committed suicide in 1963.
Notable on the gravestone is that it plainly communicates "killed" on Jan. 8, 1932.
In 1930, socialite Thalia Massie had moved to Honolulu with her Navy officer husband, Lt. Thomas Massie. In 1931, Thalia Massie claimed to have been beaten and raped on the night of Sept. 12 by five men, including Kahahawai. A trial of the five men ended on Dec. 6, 1931 in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
On Jan. 8, 1932, Joseph Kahahawai Jr. was kidnapped and murdered by Grace Fortescue (mother of Thalia Massie), Thomas Massie and two other Navy men, Albert O. Jones and Edward J. Lord. All four were eventually convicted of manslaughter but their 10-year sentence was commuted to just one hour in the governor's office.
After the commutation of the sentences imposed on Mrs. Fortescue, Massie, Lord, and Jones, the territorial legislature commissioned The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, who determined that the five accused men could not have committed the crime, and that there was no evidence of Thalia Massie having been raped night. Their report stated that the alleged attackers "had no opportunity to commit the kidnapping and the rape...We have found nothing in the record of the case, nor have we through our own efforts been able to find what in our estimation would be sufficient corroboration of the statements of Mrs. Massie to establish the occurrence of rape upon her."
The four surviving alleged attackers of Mrs. Massie were never retried and spent the remainder of their lives in Hawaii. In 1934, two years after the murder, the Massies were divorced. Thalia Massie committed suicide in 1963.
Notable on the gravestone is that it plainly communicates "killed" on Jan. 8, 1932.
Inscription
AT REST
JOSEPH
KAHAHAWAI Jr.
BORN DEC. 25, 1909
KILLED JAN. 8, 1932
HOOMANAO
