Kahului man sentenced to life in prison for Foodland murder | News, Sports, Jobs

Stephen B. Schmidt quietly and briefly apologizes to the family of victim Kehau Farias after being sentenced Thursday morning for her murder. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

WAILUKU — Saying a Kahului man committed an act of terrorism when he slit his estranged wife’s throat and injured two men who tried to help her in a busy Foodland store, a judge Thursday sentenced the defendant to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Stephen B. Schmidt, 48, “should at least be required to serve 100 years, in my view,” 2nd Circuit Judge Peter Cahill said while imposing the sentence.

“Make no mistake. This was an act of terrorism, no different than any other terrorist act we see on the television,” Cahill said.

Schmidt had pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree murder of 24-year-old Kehau Farias the evening of April 19, 2016.

“By any measure, Kehau Farias was a caring, thoughtful, loving, remarkable person,” said Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Martin. “I have been told so by her family, her friends, by the families of the children she cared for every afternoon in her job.”

Peter T. Cahill

Farias worked in the YMCA child care program at Puu Kukui Elementary School.

Six days before she was murdered, Farias had obtained a protective order against Schmidt, Martin said.

He said that on the day she died, Schmidt had called Farias’ aunt “looking for her, wanting to know where she was, expressing with her his displeasure or distress that he felt Kehau was cheating on him.”

When Schmidt located Farias at Foodland Kehalani at about 6 that evening, video surveillance showed him stalking her and her friend in the store before he confronted her in an aisle “and murdered her in a very gruesome and public way,” Martin said.

Martin said Schmidt also stabbed two “very courageous” men who came to Farias’ aid and confronted Schmidt.

As he sped away from the store, with police pursuing him to his residence on Molokai Hema Street, Schmidt called friends and left a message asking them to pick up his daughter, Martin said.

“At the end of the day, he has absolutely no redeeming qualities,” Martin said. “He is manipulative. He is deceptive, and he has frightening violence.”

Schmidt also had pleaded no contest to the attempted second-degree murder of James Reeves II, who was stabbed while trying to stop the attack, and to a reduced charge of first-degree assault of Scott Spencer “Kip” Stolsig, who also was stabbed while intervening.

Farias and the two men, who almost lost their lives that night, weren’t the only victims, Martin said.

“There were scores of people in Foodland when this occurred,” Martin said. “This was one of the busiest times, after work.

“This community as a whole is a victim in this crime. The terror and fear that was felt by the individuals in that store cannot go without mention. Those that hid and shielded their children from what was occurring continue to live with what this defendant did, to this very day.”

Both the prosecution and defense recommended that Schmidt be sentenced to two life terms with the possibility of parole and 10 years in prison, with all sentences to be served at the same time.

Acknowledging that “a life has been tragically and totally unnecessarily taken,” defense attorney Chris Dunn offered condolences to about a half-dozen of Farias’ family members, who traveled from other islands and the Mainland for the sentencing.

“I can’t fathom the sadness that would come from having a loved one taken away so early in their life,” he said.

By entering pleas, Schmidt had accepted responsibility, knowing that he would be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, Dunn said.

He said Schmidt gave up the opportunity to raise an insanity defense at trial, noting that three psychiatrists or psychologists who examined Schmidt found that he suffered from a mental disease, disorder or defect.

Schmidt has a history of mental illness dating to 1995, as well as a history of substance abuse, Dunn said.

He said Schmidt’s case started out as many other domestic cases do before he became “overwhelmed with rage and jealousy over the loss of this relationship and he lashed out.”

“He didn’t have that internal governor to pull back from that primal instinct,” Dunn said.

Martin said statistics show that in an abusive relationship, “the most lethal time for a victim is when they separate from the abuser.”

“This had nothing to do with some psychotic break,” Martin said. “This was, at its heart, a domestic violence homicide fueled by jealousy and rage. This was every abuse victim’s worst nightmare. What they fear the most came true for Kehau Farias.”

When Schmidt was arrested at his residence and his teenage daughter came out of the house to ask what was happening, Schmidt asked her to get his medicine, which she did, Judge Cahill noted.

He said Schmidt may have had mental health issues in the past, “but in that moment when he committed these crimes and when he was arrested, he was as lucid and premeditated as I can imagine, worried about his blood pressure medication.”

“That is not the mark of someone suffering from some mental illness relieving his culpability in this case,” Cahill said.

He said Farias’ mother and aunts wrote “touching” and “warm” letters to the court.

The judge read a letter from Farias’ brother, who wrote, “I feel sad. I miss her. I feel shocked. My grades went down.”

“In four sentences, this young boy said everything that needs to be said about what he has gone through and about what all of us have gone through,” Cahill said.

“This was a terrorist attack on the community,” he said. “Foodland was filled with people. The store had to literally close for days after. Employees were so traumatized they had to take off work. And this young woman lost her life, and the other two gentlemen have been harmed.”

Cahill noted that the parole board would determine how much prison time Schmidt must serve before being eligible for parole.

The judge said his recommendation would be to set Schmidt’s minimum term at 100 years, factoring in Farias’ life expectancy, as well as the continued suffering of the two surviving victims.

Estimating Farias’ life expectancy at about 60 years, Schmidt “should be required to serve every single day of the life that she lost,” Cahill said.

“There needs to be retribution,” he said. “There needs to be punishment. There is no rehabilitation in this case.

“You have to look at the consequences of not only what happened in the past but of what the defendant is fully capable of doing in the future.”

Schmidt was ordered to pay $8,925 in restitution.

* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

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