A woman who was convicted of murdering her husband in 2001 was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend.
A brief Honolulu Police Department arrest highlight stated that Sabrina Lynn Fiaai, 61, stabbed her 44-year-old boyfriend with a knife on May 6 shortly after midnight on Kapi‘olani Boulevard. EMS transported the victim to an area hospital in serious condition, and Fiaai was arrested without incident for second-degree attempted murder.
The HPD highlight does not mention that this was not the first time Fiaai had allegedly stabbed a romantic partner. In 2000, Fiaai had also faced a second-degree murder charge after fatally stabbing her husband in the throat.
Contemporary reporting by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote that Fiaai, 36 at the time, had used a kitchen knife to kill her husband Abe Fiaai at their home in Makakilo. Fiaai fled with two of her four children, but her other two children reportedly witnessed their father staggering through their home before pulling the knife from his throat and dying.
Fiaai’s attorney at the time, deputy public defender Todd Eddins — now an associate justice at the Hawai‘i Supreme Court — wrote in defense of Fiaai that her husband had been physically and emotionally abusive toward her. Eddins described brutal behavior from Abe Fiaai, including burning her with cigarettes, choking her into unconsciousness, and more, which was repeated throughout their relationship.
Eddins also wrote that Abe Fiaai had similarly abused their children, beating them with objects and, Eddins alleged, sexually abusing at least one of them.
In any case, Sabrina Fiaai pleaded guilty to manslaughter — claiming in her plea that she was suffering from an “extreme mental or emotional disturbance” that led to her killing her husband — and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 2001.
But the Tuesday incident was not even the second time Fiaai had allegedly stabbed a romantic partner. In 2005, Fiaai was charged yet again with second-degree attempted murder for stabbing her boyfriend.
Court records on the 2005 incident are not readily available, but contemporary reporting from the Honolulu Advertiser indicated that Fiaai — 42 years old and out on parole at the time — stabbed her boyfriend at a location in Kalihi, injuring him in his hand and the side of his abdomen.
Court-appointed mental health experts reportedly found that Fiaai suffered from a psychotic disorder exacerbated by her use of crystal meth.
Fiaai pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter and was again sentenced to 20 years in prison following the second incident, while her parole from the first incident was revoked, leaving her to also serve out the remainder of the initial 20-year sentence. She served both sentences concurrently.
It is unclear when Fiaai was released from prison. However, she was required to serve at least six years and eight months before being eligible for parole.
Police reports from Fiaai’s latest reported stabbing have not yet been released. While HPD reports she is in police custody, her bail has not been set, nor is a court date scheduled.
Aloha State Daily reached out to HPD for information about the Tuesday incident. Judge Rom Trader, who was prosecuting attorney for the 2005 case, declined to comment
