A
couple was charged with second-degree murder on Monday after law
enforcement discovered a 51-year-old woman bludgeoned to death inside a
Hawaii home, officials told local news outlets.
Stephen
Brown, 23, and Hailey Dandurand, 20, were charged with second-degree
murder, as well as burglary in the first degree and kidnapping. Brown’s
bail was set at $1 million and Dandurand was set at $500,000, according
to records obtained by PEOPLE.
On Thursday afternoon, Telma Boinville was reportedly
hired to clean the two-story vacation house where her body was found by
tourists arriving from Australia. Her 8-year-old daughter was
discovered upstairs where she was alive but tied up, officials said.
“They tied up my daughter and they beat my wife to death with a baseball bat,” the victim’s husband Kevin Emery told Hawaii News Now on Thursday. “They won’t even let me in the house because it’s so bad.”
Police
officials issued an all-points-bulletin for Boinville’s truck, which
was allegedly stolen by the couple. That evening, law enforcement
arrested the pair after the truck was spotted in a parking lot.
They
spent the weekend in jail and appeared before a Honolulu County judge
on Monday morning. They are not expected to be arraigned or enter a plea
until Wednesday, officials said. It is unclear whether they have
obtained an attorney.
“At
that time, the judge looks at the evidence and decides if there’s
enough evidence to continue to pursue the case,” said Brooks Baehr,
spokesman for the Department of Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney.
He
added that the case could go in front of a Grand Jury before Wednesday.
The option is sometimes used to protect minors and sexual assault
victims.
“There’s
an 8-year-old witness,” Baehr said. “[The Grand Jury] prevents a person
from taking the witness stand and exposing them to additional trauma.”
For now, friends and family are grieving the death of Boinville, who also was a substitute teacher at a local elementary school.
At a vigil on Friday evening, Boinville’s friend Virginia Herbert was still in shock over the news
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