Guns used in the Jan. 7, 2004, murder of two underworld figures were melted the same day into metal fragments the size of "bird seed" and thrown into a canal, one of the first witnesses in the racketeering trial of Rodney Joseph Jr. and Ethan "Malu" Motta testified yesterday.

The witness, George Cambra Jr., said he destroyed three handguns at the request of Joseph, a friend of his, at the Campbell Industrial Park baseyard of George Cambra Movie Production Trucks Inc.

At Joseph's request, Cambra said, he threw the metal residue in a canal and also disposed of handgun ammunition in a storm drain. Police later recovered the ammunition but not the gun fragments.

The first witness in the trial was police officer Christopher Wong, who said he questioned a victim in the shooting, Lepo Utu Taliese, as Taliese lay dying near the fairway of the first hole at the Pali Golf Course shortly after 1 p.m.

When Wong asked Taliese who shot him, the victim said, "Rodney Joseph and Ethan Motta," Wong testified.

Wong said Taliese repeated the answer three times.

Taliese said he was shot in the back with a .22-caliber and a .38-caliber handgun, according to Wong.

The prosecution alleges that Motta used the .22 and Joseph the .38. Motta is also accused of shooting a third man, Tinoimalu Sao, in the face with the .22. Sao recovered from his wounds and is scheduled to testify as a prosecution witness.

A third defendant, Kevin "Pancho" Gonsalves, earlier pleaded guilty to using a .380 caliber handgun to kill Romilius Corpuz Jr. at the golf course. Joseph is also accused of murdering Corpuz.

In his opening statement, prosecutor Thomas Brady said that Motta, Joseph and Gonsalves were part of racketeering enterprise that used murder, robbery and extortion to control illegal casino operations on O'ahu.

Taliese, Corpuz and Sao were members of a rival group competing with the defendants to provide "protection" to gambling games, according to Brady.

He said Sao will testify that he was shot point-blank in the face by Motta when the two groups met in the golf course parking lot.

The bullet went through Sao's nose and broke up into fragments, some of which are still inside Sao's skull, according to Brady.

Sao will testify that the bullet "felt like a bee sting," Brady told the jury.

After the shootings, Sao was still able to walk and found Corpuz, his brother, lying near death on the ground near the golf course pro shop, Brady said.

"He asked his brother if he had been shot," Brady said. "He said, yeah, Kevin and Rodney did it," Brady told the jurors.

Joseph's lawyer, Reginald Minn, indicated in his opening statement that evidence in the case will show that Gonsalves, not Joseph, shot Taliese.

Motta's lawyer, prominent New York criminal defense expert Charles Carnesi, used his opening statement to attack the government's claims that the defendants were involved in a racketeering organization.

He said the government has a "heavy burden" in trying to prove the necessary elements of the "unique" racketeering law used to charge the three defendants in federal court.

The gambling operations were run by a group separate from the men who were providing "protection" services to the games, Carnesi and Minn told jurors.

Tying the defendants to control of the gambling operations is a key necessary legal element in the racketeering charge.

Outside court, Motta's mother, Elizabeth, said she and her family are still trying to "scrape up" enough money to pay Carnesi's legal bill of $150,000.

Carnesi has regularly represented accused mafia figures in New York trials, including John A. "Junior" Gotti, son of onetime New York mafia family boss John Gotti.

Motta said, "My son is innocent," and called Carnesi "an angel" for agreeing to represent him.