MEDIA RELEASE

A 55-year-old Kona man who suffered third-degree burns in a domestic dispute has died from his injuries.

Ghenghis Khan Kaaihue of Kailua-Kona was pronounced dead at at 11:17 p.m. Wednesday (February 18) at Straub Medical Center on Oahu. An autopsy will be conducted by the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s office to determine the exact cause of death.

The case has been reclassified to second-degree murder. Detectives from the Hawaiʻi Police Department’s Area II Criminal Investigations Section are continuing the investigation.

Kona Patrol officers responding to an 8:55 a.m. call Sunday (February 15) determined that a 53-year-old Kailua-Kona woman had confronted Kaaihue in a van parked on the roadside at Kahaluʻu Beach Park in Kona. When the woman began to pour gasoline on the vehicle, Kaaihue exited the van, and the two became involved in a physical struggle that ended with gasoline being poured onto their clothing and bodies. According to witnesses, during the struggle the woman used a lighter to set both herself and Kaaihue on fire.

The woman remains at Straub in critical condition.