The former security chief at Hawaiʻi’s largest jail has told Civil Beat he urged his superiors to transfer leaders of the prison gang Murder Inc. to a more secure state prison months before a gang-related killing in 2023, but the request was rejected.

Jose Rodriguez said in an interview that he also asked for a new video monitoring system to replace one that wasn’t working at Oʻahu Community Correctional Center, but didn’t get one.

That problem of failed cameras at OCCC was confirmed last week in testimony in the Oʻahu Circuit Court criminal trial for three men accused in the beating death of Chris Vaefaga at the jail July 6, 2023. There was no video evidence of the crime.

Vaefaga was killed in Module 13 of the jail, which housed members of two affiliated gangs known as Murder Inc. and West Side. Alleged Murder Inc. gang leaders Aaron “Rona” Tuitelapaga, his brother Bronson Tuitelelepaga, and Manu Sorensen are each charged with manslaughter in the case.

Testimony for the prosecution in the trial has painted a grim portrait of life in the gang module, with current and former inmates describing a violent structure dominated by a “work line” run by gang members who controlled everything from room assignments to a brutal system of inmate discipline.

Inmates were prohibited from directly approaching the guards for anything, the jury was told, and the gang members even read all outgoing mail before it was sent.

When asked what the work line got in exchange, one prisoner testified: “I’d say they get whatever they want — drugs, phones, whatever they want.” He was interrupted by an objection from a defense lawyer, and Circuit Court Judge Paul Wong ordered that remark stricken from the record.

Deputy Attorney General Adrian Dhakhwa asked another inmate witness Wednesday what the two corrections officers on duty in the module did while Vaefaga was being fatally beaten in his cell.

The inmate compared the noise from the beating in the cell to construction noise, or the pounding sound of a jackhammer. “They did nothing,” he said of the guards.

“Was that surprising to you?” Dhakhwa asked.

“Not at all,” the inmate replied.

Some of the other inmates called by the prosecution have refused to testify or recanted information they gave to investigators earlier.

Who Was Really In Charge?

Vaefaga had caused problems in the jail module by going on a dayslong methamphetamine binge in Cell 201. According to court records, he was talking to himself and wasn’t sleeping, eating or showering.

On the day he was killed, one of Vaefaga’s three cellmates approached alleged gang leader Bronson Tuitelelepaga. The cellmate testified he told Tuitelelepaga what was happening and asked, “Can we get a move?” His hope was either he or Vaefaga would be moved.

Within the hour, Vaefaga was attacked in his cell by inmates, allegedly including Tuitelelepaga, Tuitelapaga and Sorensen, according to pretrial grand jury testimony.

At the trial, the cellmate described “thumps and screams” during the beating that attracted the attention of inmates who were watching TV. But two corrections officers on duty in the module stood looking straight ahead, “giving the appearance of everything is in order,” the cellmate testified.

An inmate tattoo artist was then summoned to the cell to cover a West Side gang tattoo on the back of Vaefaga’s neck, signifying he was expelled from the gang, according to the grand jury testimony.

An autopsy found Vaefaga died sometime after the early afternoon attack of blunt force injuries that caused bleeding in his brain. He also bled from one eye and his ears, and suffered a broken rib.

The jury heard testimony last week that an inmate cleanup crew went to Cell 201 to help wipe up the blood, and the next shift of corrections officers did not discover Vaefaga had died until after 8 p.m.

Warning Signs

Rodriguez, who was acting chief of security at OCCC for two years, said he was concerned about the influence wielded by Tuitelapaga, his brother Bronson and Sorensen in Module 13 well before Vaefaga’s death. In his role Rodriguez oversaw safety and security for the facility.

The gang problem blossomed during the pandemic, Rodriguez said, when transfers between correctional facilities were strictly limited to try to curb the spread of the virus. He said that offered the gangs an uninterrupted opportunity to recruit and build a “foundation” at OCCC.

“They were becoming really brazen,” Rodriguez said of the Murder Inc. inmates in Module 13.

Staff members observed that when they ordered inmates there to do almost anything — including return to their cells for lockdown — the prisoners first looked to the gang leaders, he said.

“As soon as they say, ‘Yeah, lock down,’ then everybody locked down,” he said.

There was also an increase in contraband including drugs, vapes and cell phones, Rodriguez said.

“They had the keys to the house,” he said of the Murder Inc. leaders.

Staff members who monitor gang activity at the jail wanted to move Tuitelapaga, Tuitelelepaga and Sorensen to Hālawa Correctional Facility in late 2022 to separate them from each other and other gang members, which Rodriguez described as an effort to “cut the head off the snake.”

The request was routed to Michael “Mick” Hoffman, administrator of the Institutions Division for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, who had previously served as the department’s acting deputy director for corrections.

Only Director Tommy Johnson could approve the move to Hālawa, Rodriguez said.

“But to no avail. We couldn’t get them up there because we were denied.”

Rodriguez retired in April after 31 years in the state correctional system, and said he is speaking now because he is frustrated. He said corrections officers — who have only limited control over how correctional facilities are run — are constantly blamed for what goes wrong inside.

“My main concern is to make sure that the pointing of the fingers goes to the right place, not to us all the time,” he said.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation declined a request last week for interviews with Johnson and Hoffman to respond to Rodriguez’s claims. Rosemarie Bernardo, public information officer for DCR, said in a written statement the department “will not comment at this time because of the ongoing trial.”

Another issue at the jail was the failing digital video recording system. Investigators who responded to Vaefaga’s death asked for video of activities in Module 13 the day he was killed, but were told there were none, according to court records.

Rodriguez said staff at the jail had been reporting problems with the video recording system for years and had asked that it be replaced. Video is often a critical component in inmate misconduct cases, he said, and the inmates knew there was no working video in that module.

“They have 24 hours (a day) to figure out our weak points,” Rodriguez said. “They know what works and doesn’t work.”

Faulty video equipment is not a new problem in the state correctional system. It was also an issue in sexual assault cases at the Women’s Community Correctional Center, and in inmate disturbances at both the Hilo and Maui jails in recent years.

The Fear Factor

As the trial of the alleged gang leaders played out in Circuit Court last week, inmates’ fear of crossing the gangs emerged as a major complication.

One witness already testified his son was beaten in Waiʻanae after the witness made a statement to authorities, and at least two others who agreed to testify have been moved to protective custody at the jail.

Other current and former prisoners summoned to testify last week repeatedly refused to answer questions and tried to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

Wong rejected those efforts, warning the men they must answer questions because they were granted immunity and cannot be charged in connection with Vaefaga’s death.

The judge took the unusual step Tuesday of asking a television crew in the courtroom to refrain from publishing pictures or video that show the faces of the witnesses.

Three current or former inmates recanted much or all of what they told investigators shortly after Vaefaga’s death. One said he exaggerated because he was afraid he would be charged in the case, while another insisted he lied about the killing so he would be moved out of Module 13.

The judge took the unusual step Tuesday of asking a television crew in the courtroom to refrain from publishing pictures or video that show the faces of the witnesses, and Dhakhwa has asked that witnesses’ names also not be published by media outlets.

The gang name “Murder Inc.” has also complicated the trial.

Defense lawyer Randall Hironaka, who is representing Bronson Tuitelelepaga, asked Wong to bar any witness from mentioning “Murder Inc.” during the trial to avoid prejudicing the jury.

Wong agreed, but the prohibition has proven awkward at times. It has forced the lawyers to use phrases such as “the prison gang we’re talking about.”

One inmate witness casually violated Wong’s rule Wednesday, describing Module 13 as “Murder Mansion.” Wong told the jury that remark was being stricken from the record and cannot be considered.

The trial is scheduled to continue Tuesday and wrap up sometime next week.