A petition filed Monday outlining new evidence in one of Hawaii's biggest murder cases asks a judge to release a Native Hawaiian man who has spent more than 20 years in prison for the sexual assault, kidnapping and murder of a white woman on the Big Island.
On Christmas Eve in 1991, Dana Ireland, 23, was found barely alive in the bushes along a fishing trail in Puna, a remote Big Island district. She was sexually assaulted and beaten, and later died at Hilo hospital. The mangled bicycle she had been riding was found several miles away and it appeared a vehicle ran into her.
