Missing Kapolei man found in Waipio, attorney says

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Around 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7, Honolulu Police announced 55-year-old Jonnaven Monalim was missing, and was last seen on Wednesday night, Nov. 5, leaving his home in Kapolei.

But just seven hours after they announced he was missing, HPD was investigating a body that was found off a dirt road in Waipahu (near the Waipio Soccer Complex).

Police said officers had located the body of a man with apparent gunshot wounds.

Michael Green, a long-time family attorney for Monalim, told KHON2 that fingerprints taken from the scene where the body was found confirmed it was him.

“They took fingerprints of the body, and they’ve identified it as Jonnaven,” attorney Michael Green said.

“When I hear about bodies being found where they’re doing fingerprint identification, instead of photograph or in-person identification, it’s a rage issue or a payback issue,” explained Green.

Green says the family was not asked to identify Monalim in person or with a photo.

“When they decide not to photograph the face, for identification it shows rage or payback, and I’m not saying who they’re paying back for, and I’m not saying what people were raged about – whether it’s a money debt or something else, or I pay you back for something they think you did in the past – I can’t answer that, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen fingerprint identification where they could not take pictures of the face,” Green said.

On Thursday, Nov. 6, there was heavy police presence in the Pearl City industrial area where Monalim’s girlfriend told Green that Monalim’s hearing aid was found with a bullet casing and a pool of blood.

Monalim has a criminal record dating back to the 1980s. He was the key witness in the high-profile 2004 Pali golf course shooting trial after he wore an FBI wire that secretly recorded a conversation. That recording ultimately led to his cousin Rodney Joseph Jr. and Ethan “Malu” Motta to being sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Green said Monalim had disagreements with other individuals over the years.

“He was a street guy, and he would have been smart enough not to meet a particular person without protecting himself,” Green said. “My guy was not the kind of guy that would just walk around and meet people in the middle of the night; he had to trust the person and feel that he was safe.”

“He never would have gone to meet anybody if he had the slightest concern about his safety, but he certainly, if it was a one-on-one, he trusted the person with his life and he made a mistake apparently,” he added.

Green believes police finding the body in the middle of nowhere means one thing.

“They [police] knew where they were going, so somebody gave up somebody,” he added.

Police have not confirmed any arrests and are deferring identification of the body to the medical examiner. Police will also not say if Monalim’s missing persons case is still active.