FILE 262 / 10 February 2022 / 167 MIN / full

Disturbing, Depraved & Disgusting

Kihei, HawaiiListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

This is Kihei, Hawaii; it's on the south side of the island of Maui, in Maui County about 0:05:02

History, in brief

Town note

In the height of the whaling era over 400 ships visited in one season, with up to 100 anchored at once in Lahaina Roads.

about 0:08:19

Town note

Whaling ended once petroleum replaced whale oil as fuel.

about 0:09:05

1898

Hawaii was annexed in 1898, made a territory in 1900 and became the 50th state in 1959.

about 0:09:18

1943

At the peak in 1943 and 1944 more than 100,000 soldiers were based in Hawaii.

about 0:09:50
All 5 history facts

Town note

In the height of the whaling era over 400 ships visited in one season, with up to 100 anchored at once in Lahaina Roads.

about 0:08:19

Town note

Whaling ended once petroleum replaced whale oil as fuel.

about 0:09:05

1898

Hawaii was annexed in 1898, made a territory in 1900 and became the 50th state in 1959.

about 0:09:18

1943

At the peak in 1943 and 1944 more than 100,000 soldiers were based in Hawaii.

about 0:09:50

Town note

Hawaii's beaches were used as practice landings for marines, demolition and sabotage training.

about 0:09:59

The figures, as told

Who lives here

White 44% · Black 1% · Asian 21%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
about average

about 0:22:50

Violent crime
▼ a little under half

about 0:22:57

Money

Median home value$807,800
Two-bedroom rent$1,929
Median household income$71,423
Cost of living164
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2022

Population

"22,750"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:14:57

Male and female split

"50-50"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:02

Median age

"about 37"

Comparison: "normal average". No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:06

Married residents

"about 50-50"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:09

Single with children

"19%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:14

White residents

"44%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:22

Black residents

"1%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:24

Asian residents

"21%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:24

Hawaiian or Pacific Islander residents

"2.8%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:24

Two races or more

"19%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:34

Catholic

"mostly Catholic"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:15:45

Voted Democrat in the last presidential election

"66.6%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:16:03

Voted Republican in the last presidential election

"31%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:16:03

Voted independent in the last presidential election

"2.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:16:03

Unemployment rate

"12%"

Comparison: "almost three percent in the rest of the country". No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:16:37

Median household income

"$71,423"

Comparison: "pretty high". Direction: above.

As told in 2022 about 0:16:46

Jobs in accommodations and food service

"24%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:16:54

Cost of living index

"164"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: above.

As told in 2022 about 0:17:02

Median home cost

"$807,800"

Comparison: "almost three times the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2022 about 0:17:10

Average two-bedroom rent

"$1,929"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:17:42

Studio condo price

"$349,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:18:19

Two-bedroom cottage price

"$1.2 million"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:19:02

Four-bedroom family house price

"$1,549,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:19:21

Eight-bedroom house price

"$29,500,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:19:37

Property crime

"about average"

Comparison: "not low, not high". Direction: about the same.

As told in 2022 about 0:22:50

Violent crime

"a little under half"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2022 about 0:22:57

The reviews

3.8 / 5 · average of 4

5 stars

“Everybody who visits says how beautiful it is; a blessing to have grown up on the island, which radiates the aloha spirit”
about 0:10:58

4 stars

“Most people are good spirited and help each other and there are no huge crimes, but the cost of living is almost unaffordable”
about 0:12:10

4 stars

“Absolute paradise with no place to compare, but homelessness, drugs and littering are problems”
about 0:13:29

2 stars

“Roads are poorly maintained and wash away, the county has poor relations with its people, county workers stand around and the cost of living has skyrocketed”
about 0:13:56

In Hawaii

Closest episodes

  1. An Especially Ruthless KillerHaiku, Hawaii · 7 February 201820 km / 12 miShow on map
  2. Twin Powered CrazinessHana, Hawaii · 9 March 202444 km / 27 miShow on map
  3. The Mutilated MusicianKawaihae, Hawaii · 5 June 2026103 km / 64 miShow on map
  4. A Major Lack Of AlohaHilo, Hawaii · 31 August 2023185 km / 115 miShow on map
  5. Not Regulation BehaviorBurlingame, California · 14 February 20193,770 km / 2,343 miShow on map

The story

Laura was an alcoholic and was prescribed Valium in 1972, the same year she was run over by a car while intoxicated. The couple divorced in 1975, and William told the children they were out of his life and he had never been so happy.

He stayed sober for seven or eight months, worked for the roofing contractor Craig Fertado after returning his lost briefcase, met William Farmer at an NA dance, helped the wheelchair user Geraldine Jakeway in and out of the sea, and was interviewed by Linda Lauer for a Hawaii Department of Health study on IV drug use.

In the spring of 1986, in Long Beach, he had met Catherine Valentine while selling fake LSD at a bus stop; she offered the man with the cast on his leg a ride and they began dating. She introduced him to her mother, Marjorie Elaine Deebel, a 55-year-old real estate agent and former home economics teacher, and he was welcomed into her home. On Monday, May 12th, 1986, Deebel told her boss she was leaving for an appointment at about five and never arrived. She was found on Thursday, May 15th, after friends asked police for a welfare check: the front door was ajar, the window screen had been removed, loud music was playing, and she lay face down between the bed and the dresser, her nightgown cut and pushed up, her hands tied behind her back with the gown and a torn telephone cord, her neck in a noose of thin belt tied to a dresser drawer so that she hung eight inches above the floor. A hair mousse can was in the bedclothes and its cap on the floor. The autopsy found she had been beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted with the can, and that the injuries were inflicted before death.

He began dating Janice Hunt in the summer of 1992 and moved into her house that December. He came home about five the next morning. That night Muriel Hart Delbeck, known as Stevie, a 67-year-old real estate agent from Anchorage, Alaska, who spent her winters on Maui, was bound, beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted in her first-floor condominium on Kanot Street in Kihei. Her daughter Peggy Ventura found her on the morning of January 26th after seeing blood on the carpet.

The evidence was overwhelming. Judge Boyd Mossman called him a raving maniacal animal and gave him five consecutive life terms, $29,600 restitution to the family and a $275,000 fine, saying the fine was just in case he lived long enough to make that much money.

Los Angeles investigators then noticed the similarities with the Deebel murder: both victims were real estate agents, both had the initials MED, both were tied with telephone cords and both were sexually assaulted with cans of hair mousse. The FBI profiler Jim McNamara, who joined the profiling unit at Quantico in 1995, said the Delbeck case had drawn him into the work.

The case

Murder of Muriel Delbeck

Victims

Muriel Hart Delbeck (67). known as Stevie; real estate agent with Heritage Real Estate in Anchorage, Alaska, who spent winters on Maui

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 10 February 2022.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Peggy Ventura. the victim's daughter, who found the body
Janice Hunt. girlfriend, whose house he lived in
Naomi Lindeman. his ex-girlfriend, held as a potential witness
Herbert Aguilar. sergeant at the Maui Community Correctional Center

The timeline

  1. 1961 is bornabout 0:25:06
  2. 1970 The family moves to Puerto Rico for about eleven monthsabout 0:41:25
  3. 1975 His parents divorceabout 0:50:45
  4. January 23rd, 1985 His son Jr is bornabout 1:05:54
  5. December 1985 A motorcycle accident injures his right leg and he has surgeryabout 1:06:57
  6. 1989 He moves to Hawaii to live with his sister Elena and get cleanabout 1:19:47
  7. 1989 He meets William Farmer at an NA dance, who hires him for construction work (William Farmer's house)about 1:22:05
  8. summer 1992 He begins dating Janice Huntabout 1:28:34
  9. December 1992 He moves into Janice Hunt's house (Hunt house)about 1:28:43
  10. December 19th, 1992 His father is killed when the small plane he is piloting crashesabout 1:29:27
  11. January 25th, 1993 His dog is found dead; he holds it in the road, buries it at sea, then goes to a friend's apartment and injects half a gram of cocaineabout 1:31:06
  12. January 25th, 1993 Peggy Ventura drops her mother at the condominium in the evening (Delbeck condominium)about 1:33:25
  13. January 25th, 1993 Delbeck is bound, beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted in her home (Delbeck condominium)about 1:43:04

Murder of Marjorie Deebel

Victims

Marjorie Elaine Deebel (55). real estate agent and former home economics teacher; mother of girlfriend Catherine Valentine

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 10 February 2022.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Catherine Valentine. Deebel's daughter and girlfriend, who testified
Naomi Lindeman. ex-girlfriend, who testified about the wine bottle attack
Paul Roy. Deebel's ex-boyfriend, investigated and cleared
Leonard Hersch. man who dated Deebel
Alden Olson. man who dated Deebel in the weeks before her death
Vivian Camp. Avon lady who visited the apartment
James Jesson. Los Alamitos police sergeant, lead investigator
David L. Brent. Orange County deputy district attorney
Jim McNamara. FBI profiler based in Honolulu
Park Deats. prosecution expert on blackouts

The timeline

  1. spring of 1986 meets Catherine Valentine at a bus stop in Long Beach while selling fake LSD; she offers him a ride (Long Beach bus stop)about 1:07:25
  2. March 1986 They begin dating and she gives him a key to her truckabout 1:10:26
  3. May 12th, 1986 Deebel tells her boss she is leaving for an appointment at about 5 p.m. and never arrivesabout 1:55:14
  4. May 12th, 1986 Catherine sees her mother for the last time between 7 and 7.30 a.m.about 1:56:01
  5. May 12th, 1986 and his brother sell fake LSD outside the Judas Priest concert, leaving about 4 p.m. and returning about 11.30 p.m. (Los Angeles Sports Arena)about 1:17:29
  6. May 12th, 1986 Deebel is bound, beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled in her apartment (Deebel apartment)about 1:13:36

Last meals

  • Marjorie Deebel. food, untouched by digestion stomach contents at autopsy; she died within an hour of eatingabout 2:04:45

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode