Michael Miske: Murder Conviction, Death in Custody, and Forfeiture Fight

Michael Miske was a Honolulu businessman and convicted crime boss who ran a racketeering enterprise in Hawaii for more than two decades before a federal jury convicted him in July 2024 of 13 counts, including murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping resulting in death, and chemical weapons offenses. He died of a fentanyl overdose in his federal detention cell on December 1, 2024, before he could be sentenced.¹ Federal prosecutors now allege he orchestrated his own death to keep the government from seizing more than $20 million in assets.

How He Built the Enterprise

Miske was born on February 15, 1974, in Honolulu. By 21 he already carried felony convictions for credit card fraud and a stolen-car ring, and two days after pleading no contest to those charges in May 1995 he was involved in an incident that led to a second set of felony pleas for kidnapping and attempted assault, after he allegedly dragged a Honolulu police officer with a car. He received concurrent five-year probation sentences.²

Probation required full-time work. Miske took a job at Oahu Termite and Pest Control and learned the trade, and after his 1999 release from court supervision he founded Kama’aina Termite and Pest Control Inc. Prosecutors would later describe that company as the enterprise’s headquarters: a place where crimes were planned, illicit money laundered, and associates given fraudulent employment. It also became a legitimately successful business, reporting $8.5 million in revenue and $2.5 million in net profit in 2017 and servicing landmarks including the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Waikiki Shell.³⁴

The federal indictment identified a web of related entities: Kama’aina Holdings LLC, Hawaii Partners LLP (a used car dealership prosecutors said laundered drug money), Kama’aina Plumbing and Home Renovations, Kama’aina Energy LLC, Makana Pacific Development LLC, Leverage Inc., and the Encore Nightclub, formerly the M Nightclub. Miske concealed his ownership of the nightclub because his felony record disqualified the business from a liquor license, and between 2012 and 2017 the club hosted political fundraisers for Governor David Ige, state senators, and Honolulu city council members.⁵⁶

Prosecutors said the enterprise operated from the late 1990s through mid-2020, and that its business included drug trafficking, extortion, robbery, kidnapping, murder, arson, money laundering, and bank fraud. It relied on threats against customers, competitors, and regulators, used encrypted messaging and multiple phones to evade detection, and, according to trial evidence, kept associates loyal by showering them with gifts and housing before turning on those who became liabilities.⁷⁴

The Murder of Johnathan Fraser

The most serious count against Miske grew out of a car crash. On November 17, 2015, his son Caleb was test-driving a Honda hatchback with his friend Johnathan Fraser as a passenger when it collided with a truck at a Windward City Shopping Center intersection. Both were severely injured. Caleb died in March 2016 from complications. Miske blamed Fraser, telling associates Fraser had been driving, a claim witnesses contradicted, and the family banned Fraser from Caleb’s funeral.⁸⁹

According to the indictment and trial testimony, Miske began planning the murder in March 2016, telling associates they “could name the price.” He directed his daughter-in-law, Delia Fabro-Miske, to rekindle a friendship with Fraser and his girlfriend, Ashley Wong, and to lure them to an apartment Miske paid for. In June 2016 Miske bought a Boston Whaler for disposing of the body at sea. On July 30, 2016, Fabro-Miske took Wong on a “spa day” at Ko ‘Olina Resort to separate the couple. Fraser was never seen again.¹⁰

An unsealed FBI affidavit later described Kelii Foster, the leader of a North Shore gang, bragging about pulling a man from an apartment, taking him onto a yacht, tying cement blocks to his feet, and throwing him into the water. Fraser’s body has never been recovered. Prosecutors won the murder conviction without offering a definitive account of who carried it out or exactly how, and U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson said the circumstances painted a “strong and clear picture” of a conspiracy to kidnap and kill him.⁹¹¹

The Chemical Weapons Attacks

In March 2017, Miske allegedly ordered the release of chloropicrin, a toxic industrial chemical capable of causing death or permanent harm, at two Honolulu nightclubs. The motive, according to cooperating witnesses, was to push customers toward the Encore Nightclub, which he controlled. At the Ginza Night Club in Kakaako, the chemical was poured onto the dance floor, and patrons scrambled for the exits with difficulty breathing and severe eye irritation.¹²

Kaulana Freitas, Miske’s personal assistant, testified that Miske ordered him to release what he believed to be tear gas at the District Nightclub the night before. Miske’s half-brother John Stancil supplied the chemicals. Ashlin Akau, recruited for the Ginza attack, pleaded guilty to using a chemical weapon and cooperated with prosecutors.¹³

The Federal Trial and Conviction

A superseding indictment against Miske and ten co-defendants was unsealed on July 15, 2020, and a third superseding indictment filed in December 2022 brought 19 counts against Miske and six remaining co-defendants covering racketeering conspiracy, murder, kidnapping, chemical weapons use, drug distribution, Hobbs Act robbery, and firearms offenses.⁵⁷

Every co-defendant except Miske eventually pleaded guilty. Stancil and Fabro-Miske entered pleas during jury selection in January 2024, leaving Miske to stand trial alone before Judge Watson. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Inciong led the prosecution and Michael Kennedy represented Miske. The trial ran seven months. A key witness, Miske lieutenant Wayne Miller, had pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in 2020 under a cooperation agreement, and admitted to helping plan the Fraser murder, participating in five unexecuted murder-for-hire plots, kidnapping a 72-year-old accountant, and buying $400,000 in cocaine in Los Angeles on Miske’s behalf while working as an FBI informant.¹⁴¹⁵

On July 18, 2024, the jury convicted Miske on 13 of 16 counts. The murder conviction alone carried a mandatory life sentence.¹¹¹ A week later, the same jury found in a forfeiture proceeding that 27 of Miske’s assets, valued between $20 million and $28 million, were subject to seizure. The list included homes in Portlock and Kailua, a 2017 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, the 37.5-foot Boston Whaler named Painkiller, paintings, sculptures, and millions in bank accounts. Prosecutors called it the largest individual forfeiture case in Hawaii history.¹⁶

Death in Federal Custody

On December 1, 2024, Miske was found unresponsive in his cell at the Honolulu Federal Detention Center and pronounced dead. The Honolulu medical examiner ruled the cause of death as toxicity from fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl and initially said it appeared accidental, though the case remained under investigation.¹⁷

U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors called the death “unexpected” and said that while justice had been served through the conviction, “aspects of the case remain unfinished.”¹ Because Miske died before sentencing, the conviction was vacated under the doctrine of abatement, which also terminated the criminal forfeiture that would have transferred his assets to the government.

The Suicide-for-Assets Allegation

In January 2025, the Department of Justice filed a new civil forfeiture complaint to pursue the same property. In March 2026, prosecutors moved to amend that complaint with a striking claim: that Miske had conspired to smuggle fentanyl into the detention center and deliberately killed himself to stop the government from seizing his fortune.¹⁸

According to prosecutors, Miske acted on advice that dying before sentencing would legally interfere with forfeiture. About three months before his death he transferred assets, including boats, a Ferrari, vintage vehicles, and business bank accounts, into a personal trust naming his nine-year-old granddaughter as the sole beneficiary. Investigators allege he arranged for a former inmate to intentionally violate supervised release, get rearrested, and smuggle fentanyl into the detention center, and that he consumed small doses in the days beforehand to create a false history of use and make the final overdose look accidental.¹⁹²⁰

Edward Burch, an attorney for the Miske trust, called the government’s theory “novel, unprecedented,” and “fundamentally flawed.” The trust says the most valuable properties were placed in trust in 2010 and 2011, long before the alleged crimes, and that the government is stretching the statutory term “obtain” to cover property merely “retained.” The defense also argues that the five-year civil forfeiture statute of limitations has expired and that prosecutors are unfairly targeting an innocent child.²¹

At an April 2026 hearing, Judge Watson signaled he would allow most civil discovery to proceed and rejected the argument that suicide cannot constitute obstruction of justice. “My view is that it could,” Watson said. “You’re not going to convince me otherwise.” He has not yet ruled on the government’s motion to file a second amended complaint, and the trust is separately pushing to sell real properties to cover maintenance costs and lender obligations.²⁰

What Happened to the Co-Defendants

The investigation produced federal convictions of 20 people tied to the Miske Enterprise. The longest sentence went to Lance L. Bermudez, known as “The Hammah,” who received 30 years on July 13, 2025, for his role in the murder-for-hire conspiracy involving a $60,000 contract, attempted murders, arson of the van used in Fraser’s abduction, and armed robberies of drug dealers.²²

John Stancil, Miske’s half-brother, was sentenced on February 11, 2025, to 20 years, the statutory maximum for racketeering conspiracy. Judge Watson called him a “key player in terrorizing the citizenry of this city and county for years” and said he deserved a higher sentence than the law allowed.²³ Delia Fabro-Miske was sentenced on April 16, 2025, to seven years. The judge found her a “minimal participant” in the murder itself but noted her actions made it possible, and she was also ordered to pay nearly $50,000 in restitution to the Social Security Administration for fraudulently receiving survivor benefits.²⁴ Former Kama’aina Termite manager Preston Kimoto received 37 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and providing substantial assistance to the government, and Michael Buntenbah received 36 months and a $50,000 fine after pleading guilty in March 2022 to conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering.²⁵ Bermudez was the last defendant sentenced.

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Statement Regarding the Death of Defendant Michael J. Miske
2
Honolulu Civil Beat. From Early On, Miske Was on the Path to a Life of Crime
3
Hawaii News Now. Feds: Alleged Crime Boss Spent Far More Than He Earned in Legitimate Business
4
Courthouse News Service. Honolulu Businessman Convicted in Major Racketeering and Murder-for-Hire Case
5
Courthouse News Service. Miske Third Superseding Indictment
6
Honolulu Civil Beat. Alleged Oahu Crime Boss’ Nightclub Was a Popular Place for Political Fundraisers
7
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 11 Defendants Charged in Hawaii Federal Court With Racketeering and Other Offenses
8
Honolulu Civil Beat. Fateful Car Wreck Takes Center Stage at Miske Trial
9
Honolulu Civil Beat. Miske Investigation: Unsealed Affidavit Offers New Clues in Killing of Son’s Friend
10
U.S. Department of Justice. Miske Enterprise Member Sentenced to 7 Years Federal Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy
11
Honolulu Civil Beat. Jury Convicts Miske of 13 Counts Including Murder in Aid of Racketeering
12
Honolulu Civil Beat. Plea Agreement Details How Miske Allegedly Ordered a Chemical Attack on Rival Nightclub
13
Hawaii News Now. Cousin Testifies Alleged Crime Boss Ordered Him to Release Chemical Into Nightclub
14
Honolulu Civil Beat. Miske Defense Denies His Involvement in Conspiracy
15
Hawaii Tribune-Herald. Alleged Miske Lieutenant Testifies About Activities
16
Honolulu Civil Beat. Miske to Forfeit More Than $20 Million in Assets to Government, Jury Rules
17
KSAT. Medical Examiner Says a Hawaii Crime Boss Died of a Drug Overdose While in Federal Detention
18
U.S. Department of Justice. United States Asserts New Civil Forfeiture Theory Alleging Michael J. Miske Committed Suicide
19
Honolulu Civil Beat. Mike Miske Killed Himself to Protect $20 Million Estate, Prosecutors Say
20
Courthouse News Service. Feds Say Hawaii Crime Boss Orchestrated His Own Death to Shield Millions in Assets
21
U.S. News & World Report. Feds Trying to Bilk Miske Granddaughter Out of Inheritance, Lawyer Says
22
U.S. Department of Justice. Miske Enterprise Member Sentenced to 30 Years Federal Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy
23
U.S. Department of Justice. Miske Enterprise Member Sentenced to 20 Years Federal Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy
24
Honolulu Civil Beat. Miske’s Daughter-in-Law Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison
25
Honolulu Civil Beat. Miske Case: 2 More Co-Defendants Sentenced