HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-06-10FormerKauaiwomanresentencedfor1997murderDEREK S.K. KAWAKAMI, MAYOR MICHAEL A. DAHILIG, MANAGING DIRECTOR
News Release
For Immediate Release: June 10, 2021
COUNTY OF KAUA‘I
OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
JUSTIN F. KOLLAR, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
(808) 241-1888
Former Kaua‘i woman resentenced for 1997 murder
LĪHU‘E – Prosecuting Attorney Justin F. Kollar today announced that Monica Alves (aka Monica
Peralto), 54, formerly of Kaua‘i, was resentenced for her role in the 1997 kidnapping and murder of
Kimberly Washington-Cohen.
The sentence was handed down by Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Randal G.B. Valenciano. The Court
sentenced Alves to serve a 20-year term for Kidnapping consecutive to a life term (with the possibility of
parole) for Murder in the Second Degree.
Alves and her ex-husband Mitchell Peralto were convicted at trial in 1998 after they kidnapped
and murdered Washington-Cohen, leaving her to die bound and suffocated near Nounou Road in
Wailua. Alves was originally sentenced to serve consecutive terms life without the possibility of parole
for Murder and life with the possibility of parole for Kidnapping. More than twenty years of appeals and
post-conviction proceedings ensued, including a resentencing in 2004 after a provision of the original
sentence was deemed improper.
The State of Hawai‘i was represented at today’s hearing by Prosecuting Attorney Kollar and
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tracy J. Murakami. Alves was represented by court-appointed counsel
Keith Shigetomi.
Kollar stated, “I want to thank the many staff in our office who have worked for the past 24
years to achieve justice for the family of Kimberly Washington-Cohen. Our thoughts remain with her and
her ‘ohana.”
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