The wife of convicted killer Glenn Keohokapu Jr. testified very reluctantly against her husband in a court hearing this morning on whether Keohokapu should be sentenced to life in prison.

A Circuit Court jury last month convicted Keohokapu, 36, of manslaughter in the June 8, 2008, death of Steven Wilcox, 19, outside a Kaneohe karaoke club.
The same jury was called back into court today to hear evidence in the state’s efforts to sentence Keohokapu to life in prison instead of the normal 20-year term for manslaughter.
“It is necessary that he be put away for an extended term for the protection of the public,” Deputy Prosecutor Kristine Yoo told the jury.
The state must show that Keohokapu is a “persistent offender” and danger to the public.
The hearing is expected to last into tomorrow and involves presentation of evidence about Keohokapu’s record of three earlier felony convictions as well as domestic violence cases involving his wife, Kauilani Keohokapu.
She was on the witness stand all morning, breaking down in tears at one point as Yoo asked her to recount previous domestic abuses cases going back as far as 1994.
“This is a part of my life that I never wanted to dig back up,” the witness said at one point.
She admitted writing police and court complaints that said Keohokapu had punched, pushed, head-butted and bitten her during three earlier domestic disputes.
The couple was arguing outside a Kaneohe nightclub last year when Wilcox intervened and was fatally stabbed by Keohokapu.