PODCAST · true crime
Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History
by Aku Bone Media
Beneath the Palms explores Hawaii’s true crime cases, unsolved mysteries, disappearances, historical injustices, and stories too often left in the shadows. From cold cases and notorious crimes to forgotten events that shaped the islands, each episode looks beyond paradise to the people, places, and truths still waiting to be remembered.🎧 New episodes every Tuesday at 5AM HST.Darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.
Episodes
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Karen Stitt Murder: Gary Ramirez, DNA and the 1982 Sunnyvale Cold Case
Karen Stitt was 15 when she was murdered in Sunnyvale, California, in September 1982. The Pennsylvania transplant loved rock music, rode the El Camino bus routes on her own, and was building a new life in California. After an ordinary night with her boyfriend, she headed for a bus home and never...
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Matthew Joel Peak Murder: The Unsolved Waipio Valley, Hawaii Cold Case | Buried in Paradise
Matthew Joel Peak was 22 years old when his life ended in Waipio Valley, Hawaii. In 1999, he was living between Waipio and Puna, often hitchhiking through Hilo and sleeping in a simple camp in the valley. On June 1, beachgoers found a body buried in the sand near the beach. Fingerprints gave that...
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Who Killed Lynn Ebisuzaki? The Unsolved 1987 Hilo Murder | Hawaii True Crime Cold Case
Who killed Lynn Ebisuzaki? In 1987, the 26-year-old Hilo woman stepped away from a home she was visiting and never came back. Police found her body nearby, and nearly four decades later her murder remains unsolved. This episode of Beneath the Palms revisits the Lynn Ebisuzaki cold case from the...
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Gill Jamieson Murder: Myles Fukunaga, the 1928 Punahou Kidnapping, Race and Hawaii’s Death Penalty
Gill Jamieson. Myles Fukunaga. Punahou. Honolulu, 1928. A ten-year-old boy leaves school after being told his mother has been hurt. He never comes home. Gill Jamieson was more than the child at the center of one of Hawaii’s most disturbing early true crime cases. He traveled with his father, went...
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Simon Owen Disappearance: The Missing Hawaii Hiker Who Vanished at Manoa Falls
Simon Owen was 21 when he vanished near the Manoa Falls Trail on Oahu in June 1994. He had survived a broken neck, rebuilt his future, traveled through the Amazon and Europe, and come to Hawaii for a summer of work and adventure. Then his bicycle was found locked near the trail entrance, but…
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The Palmyra Atoll Murders: Mac and Muff Graham, the Stolen Sea Wind and Two Different Verdicts
The Palmyra Atoll Murders began as an adventure. In 1974, experienced sailors Malcolm “Mac” Graham and Eleanor “Muff” Graham reached remote Palmyra Atoll aboard their yacht, Sea Wind, expecting months of isolation in the Pacific. Instead, they vanished. Months later, the Sea Wind appeared in…
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Lisa Bissell Murder (Kauai) — Polihale Road Cold Case and the West Kauai Attacks (April 7, 2000)
Lisa Bissell was 38 when she was found on April 7, 2000—stabbed in a ditch off a roadway leading toward Polihale on Kauai. This episode follows the documented timeline that’s publicly available, then widens to the 2000 West Kauai violence cluster discussed in reporting, including the Kekaha...
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The Cliff, the Syringes, and the Surgeon | Hawaii Doctor Gerhardt Konig and Arielle Konig’s Pali Puka Trail Attack
The Cliff, the Syringes, and the Surgeon | Revisited On March 24, 2025, Arielle Konig went hiking above Nuʻuanu with her husband, Maui anesthesiologist Gerhardt Konig. What began as a birthday trip ended with Arielle severely injured on the Pali Puka Trail, two hikers moving toward her screams…
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The Unsolved Murder of Jubilee “Maile” Lum: Honolulu’s White Van Cold Case
The Unsolved Murder of Jubilee “Maile” Lum Jubilee “Maile” Lum was twenty-one years old, taking adult education classes, planning to marry on her next birthday, and, according to her mother, four months pregnant. On August 24, 1999, her body was found wrapped in layers of plastic behind a…
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Khilye Hamadani Missing in Hawaii: Honolulu Airport, China Walls, and the Unsolved Oahu Disappearance
Khilye Hamadani missing in Hawaii. Honolulu Airport. East Oahu. China Walls. Spitting Cave. This episode follows the public record of Khilye Hamadani, the 21-year-old woman who arrived in Honolulu on June 2, 2025, was later linked to the shoreline near Portlock and China Walls, and became the…
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George Helm and Kimo Mitchell: The Kahoʻolawe Disappearance That Changed Hawaiʻi
In March 1977, George Helm and Kimo Mitchell disappeared in the waters near Molokini after traveling toward Kahoʻolawe during one of the defining struggles of the Hawaiian Renaissance. George was a gifted falsetto singer from Molokaʻi whose music carried aloha ʻāina into hotel lounges, community...
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Joseph Kahahawai Jr.: The Native Hawaiian Boxer Killed After the Massie Trial
Joseph Kahahawai Jr. was only twenty-two years old when his name became tied forever to one of the most infamous cases in territorial Hawaiʻi: the Massie case. Before the headlines, before the courtroom, before the one-hour sentence, Joseph was a son of Maui, a young Native Hawaiian man, a…
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The Killer Hawaii Kept Releasing: Eugene Barrett, Roxanne Kastner, Annie Phillips and Roberta Barrett
Eugene Walter Barrett was not a warning sign Hawaii missed once. He was a man whose name appeared again and again in Honolulu court records, parole history, old newspaper archives, and finally in the memories of families left behind after three women were gone. This episode of Beneath the Palms...
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The Murder at the Moana Hotel | Jane Stanford’s Unsolved Poisoning in Honolulu
The Murder at the Moana Hotel | Jane Stanford’s Unsolved Poisoning in Honolulu In 1905, Jane Stanford, co-founder of Stanford University, arrived in Honolulu and checked into the Moana Hotel in Waikiki. She was one of the most powerful women in America, a widow, a grieving mother, and the woman…
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The Pier 24 Execution: David Walden’s Unsolved Murder
The Pier 24 Execution: David Walden’s Unsolved Murder On April 16, 1994, David Larry Walden went to Honolulu Harbor for work. He was waiting near Pier 24 for a production vehicle coming from Maui when two helmeted men arrived on a motorcycle. Within seconds, David, a husband, father of four, Navy...
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Owen Hamada: Unsolved Murder at Waikele Community Park, Oahu, Hawaii
Owen Hamada was found beaten to death inside the women’s restroom at Waikele Community Park on March 21, 2005. More than twenty years later, his murder remains unsolved. Owen was originally from Hilo, worked in construction and roofing, and was a familiar face around Waikele Shopping Center.…
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Kalaupapa Forced Exile: Hawaii’s Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) Settlement on Molokai | 075
Kalaupapa forced exile on Molokai remains one of the darkest and most important stories in Hawaii history. In 1866, the Hawaiian Kingdom began sending people diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, then commonly called leprosy, to the remote Kalaupapa peninsula, separating families and turning illness...
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Allen Francisco: Ala Moana Trunk Murder, Henry Huihui, and Hawaii’s 1974 Organized Crime Shadow | 073
Allen Patrick Francisco was 21 years old when he was found dead in the trunk of his own car at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. He had been bound, gagged, blindfolded, and left in one of the busiest places in Hawaii. But Allen was more than the way he was found. He was Lico and Solidad Francisco’s...
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The Fujita Murders: Toako “Kototome” Fujita, Goro Fujita, and the Extradition Case of Raita Fukusaku (Honolulu 1994) (BTP6112026)
A mother traveled to Honolulu to be close to her only son. By the end of February 23, 1994, Toako “Kototome” Fujita and Goro Fujita were dead, two fires had been set, and a Hawaii murder case was beginning to stretch across the Pacific. This episode of Beneath the Palms revisits the Fujita…
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Vesna Young Missing in Miloli'i: The Big Island Disappearance and the Silence Left Behind | 071
Vesna Young vanished from Miloli'i on Hawaii Island on March 16, 2025, after she was last reported seen near Umi Avenue and her vehicle was later found unattended near Kai Avenue. But this is not just a story about a missing-person bulletin. Before Vesna became a name in a police release, public...
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Elmer Lee Stevens and the Last Unanswered Lahaina Fire Missing Person Case | 070
Elmer Lee Stevens was one of the last people still listed as unaccounted for after the August 8, 2023 Lahaina fire. In this Beneath the Palms episode, we follow the verified record: the shrinking missing list, the search for Elmer, the loss of Tau Tala Tala Ponali, and the court process that...
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Jacquelyn Glenn Missing in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii | Last Seen December 5, 2025 | 069
Jacquelyn Glenn missing in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii: This episode examines the disappearance of 82-year-old Jacquelyn “Jackie” Glenn, last seen on December 5, 2025, on Nani Kailua Drive in Kona after reportedly mentioning a trip toward Hilo. The official record is spare. The silence around it is not.…
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McCully Murder & Kapolei Stabbing: John Nihipali Sr. and Hawaii’s Work Furlough Case | 068
On this episode of Beneath the Palms: the McCully murder and Kapolei stabbing case, the Hawaii work furlough controversy, and the charges against John Nihipali Sr. after police say Georgia Ann Kapana was killed on Fern Street and his estranged wife was stabbed hours later on Oahu. This story is...
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Jason Nam Murder: The Unsolved 2006 Honolulu Cold Case | Revisited 011
Jason Nam murder case. In this revisited Hawaii true crime episode, we examine the unsolved 2006 killing of 31-year-old Jason Nam, who was shot in broad daylight while washing his car outside his South Beretania Street apartment in Honolulu. Nearly two decades later, the case remains open, the...
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Shanice Ogata-Staudinger Missing in Hawaii: The Hau Bush Disappearance in Pahoa, Big Island | 067
Shanice Ogata-Staudinger disappeared in Pahoa on Hawaii Island on July 9, 2023, after going opihi picking near Hau Bush with a relative. She never returned to their prearranged meeting spot, and years later she still has not been found. In this episode, we stay close to the verified record and to...
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Mary Sue Fink: Hawaii Cold Case Murder of a Toddler Found in a Waikiki Closet | Revisited: 029
Legacy Episode 29 revisits the Hawaii cold case of Mary Sue Fink, the toddler identified through familial DNA after her remains were found in a galvanized steel can inside a Waikiki apartment closet in 2014. This Beneath the Palms episode follows the verified record, the murder investigation, the...
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Koʻolau and Piʻilani of Kauai: Forced Exile, Kalalau Valley, and Resistance in 1893 Hawaii | 066
In 1893, on Kauai, Koʻolau refused forced exile to Molokai after officials moved to separate him from Piilani and their son, Kaleimanu. What followed in Kalalau Valley became one of Hawaii’s most haunting historical cases: the killing of Deputy Sheriff Louis Stolz, martial law, a government...
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The Mysterious Death of David Douglas in Hawaii (1834) | Big Island Cold Case and Mauna Kea Mystery
In 1834, Scottish botanist David Douglas crossed Hawaii Island, climbed into the shadow of Mauna Kea, and died in a cattle pit beside a trapped bull. Officially, it was ruled an accident. But almost immediately, doubts formed around the scene, the injuries, the missing money, and the man who saw...
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Justice for Dawn Momohara | Revisited: 005
Some stories never fade. In 1977, sixteen-year-old Dawn Momohara, a sophomore at McKinley High, was found murdered inside her own school. For nearly half a century, her case sat cold. Families carried the silence. A city carried the fear. Then, in 2025, science caught up with the past. DNA pulled...
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Arthur K. Baker Buried Alive: Waikiki Kalakaua Avenue Abduction to Maili Beach Informant Murder (1978) | 064
In 1978 on Oahu, public reporting describes Arthur K. Baker as a government informant. On November 13, 1978, reporting later describes him being taken from a Waikiki cocktail lounge on Kalakaua Avenue, driven west, and buried alive in the sand at Maili. Years later, the case is repeatedly...
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Janine Meyer Murder in Waikiki, Hawaii: She Tried to Warn Us | Revisited
Janine Meyer murder in Waikiki, Hawaii — this Legacy episode returns to the 2013 killing of a Honolulu woman who warned family she was afraid before she was found dead in a dumpster behind the Hawaiian Colony. This is a retelling with a clearer public record, stronger reporting, and a sharper…
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Maunalua Bay Beach Park Marines Double Murder (1980, Unsolved) | Rodney “Rocky” Padilla & Lawrence “Larry” Martens | 063
Maunalua Bay Beach Park Marines double murder (Hawaii Kai, Oahu): two young Marines—Rodney “Rocky” Padilla and Lawrence “Larry” Martens—were found beaten and shot beside a car in September 1980, and the case remains unsolved. Investigators have acknowledged writing in the sand near the scene but...
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Waianae Valley Dismemberment Murders (Oahu, Hawaii): Patricia L.S. Stevens & Conrad Maesaka (1978) — Judge Shintaku Bribery Allegation | 062
This is a facts-first story about two victims, a courtroom outcome that detonated public trust, and a later-reported claim that tried to explain the unexplainable word that followed: bribery. Where the record is limited, unclear, or conflicting, I say that plainly—and I do not fill in gaps. A...
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Larry Kuriyama Assassination (1970): Hawaii State Senator Shot in Aiea Heights Driveway | 061
Larry Kuriyama assassination (Oct. 23, 1970) — Hawaii State Senator Larry Kuriyama is shot and killed outside his Aiea Heights home on Oahu after returning from a political rally. He’s hit multiple times at close range late at night, with his family inside the house. This episode reconstructs the...
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Linda Sue Hannon Murder: Kahana Bay, Oahu (2007) | Unsolved Hawaii Cold Case | 060
Linda Sue Hannon murder—Kahana Bay, Oahu (Feb 25, 2007). She was found dead near the Huilua Fishpond in a case that remains unsolved. This episode centers the verified timeline, the known facts, and Linda’s humanity—before the violence. A clearly labeled Speculation Lane appears later, separate...
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Walter Robert “Fig” Mitchell Murder (Kauai) — 2002 Wailua Cold Case Homicide, Unsolved | Revisited: 059
Walter Robert “Fig” Mitchell murder in Wailua, Kauai — June 10, 2002. Fig was a familiar Kauai sports voice: a youth-sports coach, a radio sportscaster, and a former sports editor tied to local games and local routine. He was found dead at home, and the case remains unsolved. Early reporting said...
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John Reverio: The Unsolved 2002 Oahu Homicide (Makaha, Lahilahi Park, Keaau Beach Park) | 058
John Reverio Oahu cold case homicide: a young man connected to Makaha was found burned near Keaau Beach Park in May 2002—an unsolved case where fire may have been used to erase the truth. On Oahu’s Leeward Coast, John Reverio vanished inside a narrow window of days. What’s publicly known is…
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Michael Robert Scheidt Murder at Kahe Point Beach Park (Waianae, Oahu) | Unsolved Hawaii Cold Case (2002) | 057
Michael Robert Scheidt was shot and killed at Kahe Point Beach Park in Waianae, Oahu on Dec. 20, 2002—an unsolved Honolulu cold case that still haunts the shoreline. Scheidt was 38 years old. He lived in Makakilo, was born in Kailua, and was a father. In the early morning hours, he was with…
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Samuel Martinez Missing on Kauai: Nebraska Student Vanishes After Solo Hiking Trip | Revisited: 054
Samuel Joseph Martinez was 23 years old when he flew from Nebraska to Kauai for a solo hiking and camping trip in May 2021. He was a University of Nebraska-Lincoln microbiology student, a son, a brother, and a young man who came to the island to read, think, and explore. This revisited episode of...
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Richard “Kalani” Vierra Jr.: The Waianae Teen Who Vanished After Saying “I’m Coming Down” | Revisited: 055
Richard “Kalani” Vierra Jr., 15, vanished from Waianae, Oahu on July 5, 2014 after leaving for a solo morning hike in the Kamaileuna, also reported as Kamaileunu, Ridge area near his home. He was an 11th-grader at Kamaile Academy Public Charter School, a Boy Scout, a church kid, a jiu-jitsu...
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Khiara Henry: Missing on Maui at Waianapanapa | Revisited: 053
Khiara Henry vanished on Maui in July 2019 after renting a car and heading toward Waianapanapa State Park near Hana. In this revisited Beneath the Palms episode, the story is rebuilt with clearer sourcing, deeper care, and a firm line between verified facts and public speculation. Khiara was 23,...
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Daylenn “Moke” Pua | The Haiku Stairs Disappearance | Hawaii Missing Hiker Mystery | Revisited: 052
In late February 2015, Daylenn “Moke” Pua told family members he planned to hike the Haiku Stairs on Oahu, also known as the Stairway to Heaven. He was still a teenager, a senior from Hawaii Island, a student at Ke Kula ʻo ʻEhunuikaimalino, an aspiring pastry chef, a grandson, a brother, and Moke...
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Missing Hiker Kyle Brittain: The Unsolved Disappearance Above Waipio Valley | Revisited: 051
Kyle Brittain was 27 years old, newly finished with massage school, and staying at his father’s house in Hilo when he set out for what was supposed to be a one-day hike into Waipio Valley on Hawaii Island. He had grown up hiking with his dad. He had water, energy bars, his phone, and people who...
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Last Seen in the Pickup: Glenn Guerrero’s Unsolved 1996 Murder in Keaau, Hawaii | Revisited: 050
Eighteen-year-old Glenn Guerrero was last seen alive in the passenger seat of a pickup truck leaving Shipman Ballpark in Keaau, Hawaii. Hours later, he was found shot to death off a dirt road above the field. The truck was never publicly identified. The driver was never named. And nearly thirty...
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Vanished at 4:45 p.m.: Jie Zhao Li’s Unsolved 1988 Missing Child Case in Nuuanu, Honolulu, Hawaii | Revisited: 049
On February 11, 1988, twelve-year-old Jie Zhao Li vanished from Nuuanu, Honolulu while selling Zippy’s chili tickets for a Royal Elementary School fundraiser. She was last seen near the 7-Eleven at Nuuanu Avenue and Kuakini Street around 4:45 p.m., only a few blocks from home, with a promise to...
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The Unsolved Murder of Sean Burgado: A Hilo Case That Still Haunts Hawaii | 047
In May 1997, 27-year-old Sean Burgado finished a shift in Hilo…and vanished. Days later, he was found shot to death inside his home on Malaai Road in upper Waiākea Uka. No arrests. No suspects. No clear motive. Almost thirty years later, his case is still unsolved — and still quietly haunting the...
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Dawn “Dede” Bustamante Revisited: 1975 Kailua Abduction, Murder, and Unsolved Hawaii Cold Case | Revisited: 048
In this revisited Beneath the Palms episode, we return to the unsolved 1975 murder of 13-year-old Dawn “Dede” Bustamante in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii, and the survival of Cherie Verdugo, the friend abducted with her. Dawn was Maureen and Neil Bustamante’s first-born daughter — a girl remembered for…
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Trailer | From Hawaii to Fitchburg: Introducing Under the Pines — A New True Crime Story from the Creators of Beneath the Palms
This special trailer introduces Under the Pines, a new true-crime series from Aku Bone Media. Rooted in the quiet mill towns of New England and Beyond, the show follows unsolved cases, forgotten disappearances, and the echoes that linger long after headlines fade. For listeners of Beneath the…
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Who Killed Kallen Agliam? The Unsolved 2001 Hilo Coast Murder (Revised 11/17/2025) | 046
In January 2001, nineteen-year-old Kallen Agliam vanished after leaving Hilo. Hours later, his body was found off Old Hilo Coast Processing Plant Road near Pepeʻekeo—a single gunshot wound to the chest. No witnesses. No weapon. No arrests. Two decades later, his case remains one of East Hawaii’s...
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Aftermath: The Murder of a Witness – The Pali Golf Course Echoes: Jonnaven Monalim
Twenty-one years after gunfire shattered the calm at Honolulu’s Pali Golf Course, another body has surfaced. Jonnaven Monalim—once a government witness who testified in the federal racketeering case United States v. Motta et al.—was found shot to death in Waipio in November 2025. Police say he…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Beneath the Palms explores Hawaii’s true crime cases, unsolved mysteries, disappearances, historical injustices, and stories too often left in the shadows. From cold cases and notorious crimes to forgotten events that shaped the islands, each episode looks beyond paradise to the people, places, and truths still waiting to be remembered.🎧 New episodes every Tuesday at 5AM HST.Darkness may linger beneath the palms, but so does hope.
HOSTED BY
Aku Bone Media
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History have?
Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History currently has 76 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History about?
Beneath the Palms explores Hawaii’s true crime cases, unsolved mysteries, disappearances, historical injustices, and stories too often left in the shadows. From cold cases and notorious crimes to forgotten events that shaped the islands, each episode looks beyond paradise to the people, places, and...
How often does Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History release new episodes?
Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History has 76 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History?
You can listen to Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History?
Beneath the Palms: Hawaii's True Crime, Mysteries & Untold History is created and hosted by Aku Bone Media.
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