Hilo is known as "The Big Island." On this City Confidential episode, we get a very informative look at the Hawaiian Island along with the small town in it with the same name. The latter has a population of about 40,000. This is one of those episodes where the crime case almost takes a backseat to the demographics. "This is a raw Hawaii," says narrator Paul Winfield, "not the commercialized area you often see pictured."
Hilo has a unique mixture of people and even a more unique landscape. Winfield tells us. "It's a land of contrasts, a dense rain forest on one end and a parched volcano area on the other, with all kinds of things in between. The people are a mixture of "old" (Hawaiian, Portugese, Japanese, Caucasions and assorted other racial groups) and "new" (New Age counter-culture a.k.a. pot-growing hippies). They don't always get along. There also was a simmering dislike (which is being kind) festering for years between the police and some of the citizens.
The locals have always been very laid-back and slow to anger. The younger and very Liberal Anglos - or "haoles" as they are called by locals, are much more short-tempered and vocal. In November of 1992, when a police officer's wife was found dead, trouble began and not just for the immediate families involved. The more it was investigated - and it was slow to being investigated until a local action group demanded some answers - it appeared the cop, Ken Mathison, killed his wife. He denied it and then said he accidentally ran over his wife on that rainy night, but most of the evidence said otherwise.
His Portugese wife, Yvonne, is pictured here as a very loving, kind woman. The husband is pictured as a money-hungry kind of guy and an abusive husband.
Almost everyone interviewed on the show was on Yvonne's side. Usually, I find the defense attorney getting a good share of air time but in this episode, the prosecutor got most of the words in, regarding the case. They showed you where City Confidential stood, and this program is never unbiased. But, the case looked pretty obvious.....and justice did prevail in the long run. The town even has a new mayor who has no political experience, and that's the way a lot of folks interviewed want it. They are tired of the old boys running things. Let's hope it all works out for the folks on Hilo, one of the prettiest islands (in some parts of it) you'll ever see.
Hilo has a unique mixture of people and even a more unique landscape. Winfield tells us. "It's a land of contrasts, a dense rain forest on one end and a parched volcano area on the other, with all kinds of things in between. The people are a mixture of "old" (Hawaiian, Portugese, Japanese, Caucasions and assorted other racial groups) and "new" (New Age counter-culture a.k.a. pot-growing hippies). They don't always get along. There also was a simmering dislike (which is being kind) festering for years between the police and some of the citizens.
The locals have always been very laid-back and slow to anger. The younger and very Liberal Anglos - or "haoles" as they are called by locals, are much more short-tempered and vocal. In November of 1992, when a police officer's wife was found dead, trouble began and not just for the immediate families involved. The more it was investigated - and it was slow to being investigated until a local action group demanded some answers - it appeared the cop, Ken Mathison, killed his wife. He denied it and then said he accidentally ran over his wife on that rainy night, but most of the evidence said otherwise.
His Portugese wife, Yvonne, is pictured here as a very loving, kind woman. The husband is pictured as a money-hungry kind of guy and an abusive husband.
Almost everyone interviewed on the show was on Yvonne's side. Usually, I find the defense attorney getting a good share of air time but in this episode, the prosecutor got most of the words in, regarding the case. They showed you where City Confidential stood, and this program is never unbiased. But, the case looked pretty obvious.....and justice did prevail in the long run. The town even has a new mayor who has no political experience, and that's the way a lot of folks interviewed want it. They are tired of the old boys running things. Let's hope it all works out for the folks on Hilo, one of the prettiest islands (in some parts of it) you'll ever see.