Michael Miske (Hawaii News Now).
Attorneys for Michael Miske told jurors he was a legitimate businessman. The Honolulu-based entrepreneur started with Kama'aina Termite and Pest Control, expanded into other industries, and even offered pro bono work to the the Neal S. Blaisdell Center arena when the city fell short of the money, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. But federal prosecutors in Hawaii described him as a crime boss who trafficked in drugs, ordered gas attacks on rival nightclubs, and had his late son's best friend, Johnathan Fraser, murdered over a tragic 2016 crash.
"Today we got justice for Johnny," Fraser's mother said outside court on Thursday, according to Hawaii News Now. "It's not a win because nobody wins today. It's justice. Justice for my son."
Fraser survived a fatal 2016 car crash in which Miske's son, Caleb, died. It was Caleb behind the wheel of the car, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat, but Michael Miske blamed Fraser.
Prosecutors said that Mikse told a co-conspirator to come up with a plan to kidnap and murder the victim, saying this co-conspirator could name the price.
"In or about June 2016, MISKE arranged for the purchase of a Boston Whaler vessel that could be used to dump Fraser's body into the ocean after Fraser was kidnapped and killed," prosecutors wrote. "On or about July 30, 2016, Fraser was kidnapped and killed. On that same day, another of MISKE's co-conspirators took Fraser's significant other on a 'spa day,' thereby ensuring that Fraser and his significant other would be separated from each other when Fraser was kidnapped."
Authorities have yet to find Fraser's body, according to Honolulu ABC affiliate KITV.
Jurors convicted him of charges including second-degree murder, racketeering, and also attempted murder against Joe Boy Tavares.
Prosecutors said the defendant engaged in a wide-array of crimes as a local crime boss.
"The racketeering activity included acts involving murder, kidnapping, arson, and robbery," the DOJ wrote in 2020. "It also included acts relating to murder-for-hire, chemical weapons, extortionate credit transactions, racketeering, interference with commerce through robbery and extortion, drug trafficking, wire fraud, fraud in connection with identification documents, financial institution fraud, the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.'
Testimony also described gas attacks at two area nightclubs.
Bryan Yoshida, who used to own The District and Ginza nightclubs, testified at trial that Miske berated him over a social media post while another man beat him, according to Hawaii News Now. Yoshida said he sustained "pretty heavy blows to my face and head." Alex Kamm, who wrote the offending post, testified about apologizing for it, but chemicals were released in both clubs days later. He described his eyes as "kind of burning. It was a lot to take in … just too much to bear."
There is a forfeiture hearing set for Monday.
