UPDATE APRIL 21: A woman has now been arrested in connection to a murder allegedly committed by her husband and son.
The murder happened on Dec. 9, 2016. A man was beaten with a pipe. Several days later, he died from his injuries.
51-year-old Fili Fagaima and 18-year-old Aaron Makuakane were arrested for the beating almost immediately. After the victim died, they were charged with murder.
Pakulani Makuakane, 43, was arrested on April 18. Her arrest report reveals a lot more details about what happened in December.
Makuakane was employed at a 7-Eleven store on Twain Avenue. The victim had reportedly been gambling in the store with his girlfriend prior to the beating. When the couple ran out of money, Makuakane told them to leave.
The couple initially refused to leave and there was a confrontation. Finally, as they left, the girlfriend says she overheard Makuakane telling someone on the phone that "the tall white boy who is always here is threatening my ass."
Some time later, the girlfriend told police that they were approached by a pair of Hawaiian males. They began beating the victim and one of the men said something to the effect of "Don't mess around with my mom."
A witness in the area also told police that he heard someone yelling the same words.
The father and son were arrested the next day. Both men admitted beating the victim and told police that they did so after receiving phone calls from Pakulani Makuakane, who told them that the victim had threatened to cut her up and find her family.
Police also interviewed a Pakulani Makuakane's coworker in mid-January who told police that she heard the woman scream at the victim and that she "stewed" over the incident. Makuakane also told coworkers and customers that she was going to have her husband "fuck up" the victim.
A short time later, she apparently called her husband son. The coworker observed the pair arrive and also saw the beating. When the coworker told Makuakane that she thought the victim was dead, Pakulani reportedly said "You don't know nothing."
The coworker also told police that she heard Makuakane tell another employee "I bet you wish you had a husband like mine that takes care of business."
Another coworker told police that the woman would often yell and be rude to customers that she did not like.
A preliminary hearing is set for May 26. A preliminary hearing for her husband and son is set for May 12.
ORIGINAL STORY
Two people have been arrested in a homicide earlier this month.
On Dec. 9, Las Vegas police responded to the 800 block of East Twain Avenue, near Swenson Street, in regards to an incident where two men struck another man with a pipe, leaving the victim unresponsive.
Patrol officers and medical personnel arrived and found a male victim suffering from apparent head trauma. The victim was transported to the Sunrise Trauma, where he remained on life support.
Detectives determined that several subjects were inside a business and got into a verbal argument. The victim left the business but was confronted a short time later by two people. During this confrontation, the victim was struck in the head with an apparent pipe.
Through the course of the investigation, detectives arrested 51-year-old Fili Fagaima and 18-year-old Aaron Makuakane. Both suspects were charged with battery with a deadly weapon in connection with this event, as the victim was not deceased at the time of arrest. Several days later, the victim was pronounced deceased.
Fagaima and Makuakane were both then rebooked and charged with murder with a deadly weapon and booked into the Clark County Detention Center.
According to the arrest report, witnesses say the suspects hit the victim in the back of the head with a pipe and kicked him. The older man reportedly told police he approached the victim, asking why he threatened his wife.
This is the 162nd homicide investigated by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2016.
The identity of the victim, as well as the cause and manner of death, will be released by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
