In December 2015, Ailsa Jackson admitted in federal court to stabbing the wife of an Army medic she was having an affair with. Catherine Walker was murdered in her home on the Aliamanu Military Reservation in Hawaii on November 14, 2014. As part of a plea agreement, Jackson is expected to be sentenced to 30 to 33 years in prison in exchange for testifying against Sgt. Michael Walker. Walker is accused of plotting to murder his wife for the life insurance. Meanwhile, he was court martialed by the Army and is serving two years for possessing child pornography and soliciting payment for sex. Walker faces a January 2017 murder trial in civilian court.
Ivanice Harris and Nathaniel Cosby, US Marine Corps
The dead body of tourist Ivanice ‘Ivy’ Harris was discovered at Yokohama Bay on the island of Oahu in Hawaii on May 20th, 2013. Ivy was living in Nevada but was originally a native of Portland, Oregon; she was four weeks pregnant. Ivy’s friends and family initiated a search after she disappeared on May 16th while celebrating her 29th birthday in Hawaii with her boyfriend, also her pimp. According to Ivy’s memorial, she died on May 17th. Ivy’s death was officially ruled a homicide by the medical examiner’s office; she died of a neck injury. Hawaii police conducted a thorough investigation that led to an active duty Marine on temporary duty assignment in Hawaii. Master Sgt. Nathaniel Cosby, 39, was an explosive ordnance disposal technician assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron-171 in the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing based out of Iwakumi, Japan. Cosby was arrested at the airport (destination unknown) and charged with Ivy Harris’ murder. After released by the Honolulu Police Department, Cosby was temporarily assigned to an aircraft unit in Kaneohe, Hawaii and according to a Marine spokesman, free to come and go as he pleased.
At some point it appears the civilian authorities deferred to the miitary because Cosby was court martialed by the Marines for the second degree murder of Ivy Harris. Cosby was an active duty Marine therefore he could be tried by the civilians, the military, or both. During the course of the legal proceedings, Cosby admitted to a confrontation with Ivy Harris over money in his hotel room after a night of drinking. He claimed Ivy demanded money then pulled out a knife after he attempted to get out of the room so he put her in a chokehold and killed her in self defense. He got rid of her body to avoid embarrassment to his family and to the Marine Corps. According to court testimony, he was unable to give a blow-by-blow description of the struggle, describing the scene as ‘chaos’. An 8-member military panel found Nathaniel Cosby guilty of second degree murder, obstructing justice, and attempting to patronize a prostitute. The panel recommended life in prison and a dishonorable discharge pending final approval by the convening authority, the Marine Forces Pacific commander. Cosby will serve his life sentence at the maximum-security military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
“After being released by HPD, he was temporarily assigned to an aircraft unit at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe, where a U.S. Marines spokesman said he will be free to come and go as he pleases like all other Marines.” –Hawaii News Now
The medical examiner confirms the Oregon woman whose body was found in west Oahu was murdered. Ivanice “Ivy” Harris was found dead four days after she went missing in Waikiki. -KITV4
On the evening of September 12, 1931, Thalia Massie was walking home from a party she attended in Honolulu when she says she was pulled into some bushes and gang raped by some natives of Hawaii. She told her husband Tommie Massie, a Naval Officer who worked on a submarine, that she was raped. He immediately wanted justice for his young wife and insisted on calling the police. Thalia came from a very prominent family and led a privileged life that honored privacy; she did not want this information to go public. Once the Navy found out, they contacted the police department in an effort to exert pressure to get a conviction so their image was not impacted and the spouses felt safe again. As a result, the allegations were taken very seriously by the police and the case was investigated. Another woman reported that same night that she had been harassed by a group of Hawaiian natives and the police couldn’t help but suspect the two cases were related. After interviewing this woman, they were able to determine who one of the men were because she was able to provide a license plate number. The police brought the first suspect into the station for questioning and were able to find out who the other individuals were.
All of them were placed in a line-up together and Thalia Massie was asked to choose the men she thought were the ones who raped her. She picked two of the five men. Regardless the police charged all five men with rape and took them to trial. In the meantime, Thalia’s mother, Grace Fortescue, came to support her daughter through the trial. In the end, all five of the men were set free due to a hung jury; the jurors were deadlocked six to six. Tommy Massie and Grace Fortescue were especially upset with the outcome of the case and believed these men were guilty and only free because of a technicality. But what they didn’t consider is that Thalia’s identification of the accused was not credible because she could not see well without her glasses, it was dark that night, and she was only able to identify two of five individuals in a flawed police line-up. The other mitigating factors were no semen was found inside Thalia when the doctor’s performed an examination and she had bathed after the alleged rape so that evidence was lost.
Before Honolulu civilian investigators even initiated a second trial, Tommy and Grace decided they would get confessions from the accused so this time it would ensure a guilty verdict. They decided they would pretend to be the police and abduct Joseph Kahahawai with the help of one of Tommy’s Navy co-workers. They took Joseph back to the Massie home, held him at gunpoint, and asked him to admit to the crime. Joseph refused to admit guilt and would not sign the statement admitting guilt. He also let them know they cannot hold him captive because they are not the police. Joseph attempted to leave and it was at this point that he was shot and killed in a foiled abduction to elicit a confession gone wrong. In the meantime, Joseph’s cousin contacted the police to report that Tommy Massie abducted Joseph. Tommy Massie and Grace Fortescue were caught red-handed with Joseph’s dead body in the car after the Massie vehicle was spotted and police pulled them over. The two were on their way to a location where they could have dumped Joseph’s body and he would never be found again.
Tommy Massie and Grace Fortescue were both arrested for the homicide of Joseph Kahahawai. The Navy personnel, spouses, and other white people treated them as if they were celebrities. The duo never thought the jury would convict but they did. They convicted them of manslaughter and sentenced them to 10 years. Unfortunately, the Governor of Hawaii pardoned them and reduced the sentence to 1 hour in jail. They were freed after abducting and murdering a man they were not even really sure was a perpetrator. Despite evidence that a rape may have never happened, it didn’t matter to Tommy and Grace. They wanted someone to pay for the crimes against Thalia and believed it was the truth. Supporters celebrated the victory with them. It appeared that Joseph Kahahawai’s life didn’t even matter to them, but his life did matter to those native to Hawaii. Hawaiian natives knew that the island was safe prior to Hawaii becoming a territory of the United States. This was the case that changed the image of Hawaii, now a paradise lost to the natives.
Honolulu, HA, 1931: When the young aristocratic wife of a Naval Lieutenant is discovered bruised and beaten by the side of a dark road, a hackneyed scheme and a trigger-happy hand will lead to the most sensational murder trial in Hawaii’s history. -Investigation Discovery
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 