Punahou School - 1841 

There are “top” private high schools around the country.  These are the elite schools where wealthy and middle-class parents, who can come-up with the tuition, send their children. These parents feel they are maximizing their child’s educational development, perhaps paving the way to attend Stanford or an Ivy League college. These schools include Lakeside School in Seattle, Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles and Menlo School in Atherton, California. In Hawaii, that “top” school is Punahou School located in Honolulu.

Punahou School was founded in 1841 as a school for the children of white missionaries serving throughout the Pacific region. If your last name is Davies, Bishop, Dole, Bingham or Castle you probably went to Punahou. Barack Obama, class of 1979, is Punahou’s most famous alumnus. 

 Big Island Districts

Puna is one of the districts of Hawai'i County, the Big Island of Hawai'i. It is located on the windward side of the Big Island south of Hilo. Students here, if they graduate from high school, do not go on to Ivy League colleges.

Puna is generally considered the “wrong side of the tracks.” Puna has the highest crime rates on the Big Island, much higher than the national average. If you are going to find a Meth lab on the Big Island it is probably located in the Puna District.

The murder and rape of Dana Ireland was a gut-wrenching crime. Who could have committed this shocking rape and murder?

Frank Pauline was a convicted felon and known liar. Why would anyone believe him when he said the Schweitzer brothers were involved in the Dana Ireland murder? A big factor, in our opinion, is they were from Puna. They were poor. They were of Native Hawaiian descent. If the Schweitzer brothers had attended Punahou, no one would have believed Frank Pauline’s story.

For more information about the case go to www.judgesforjustice.org and click on “Who Killed Dana Ireland?”

Hindsight is 20/20. Judges for Justice does not intend to criticize any of the participants in this case – past or present. Error happens, it is part of the human condition. When error is recognized it is progress toward truth. It is never too late for justice.

This is the 20 ^th email from Judges for Justice. Stay tuned for the 21 ^st; the 1932 Honolulu murder of Joe Kahahawai. He was of Native Hawaiian descent and many consider his killing to be, “Hawaii’s first lynching.”

Judge Michael Heavey (Ret.)