May 11, 2023 • 39 mins
Sandra Galas was found dead in her Hawaii home in 2006. Many believed her estranged husband, Darren Galas, was responsible. But it took years for justice, and the family never gave up. We talk with Sandra's father, Larry Mendonca Sr., and her brother, Lawrence Mendonca Jr.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
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Speaker 2 (00:26):
Helloha, everyone, Welcome back to Facing Evil. I'm Rascha Pecerreiro
and I'mivet Genteel. In this week, we're talking about the
murder of Sandra Gaullis. This murder took place back in
two thousand and six, and it happened in Hawaii, our
home state. And I know many people think of the
(00:46):
beautiful islands of Hawaii as a tropical paradise, which it
absolutely is. But it's a place you don't think that
murder or crime would happen. But it's just a place
like anywhere else, and sadly, it does happen sometimes.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
And the thing about this case is that it seemed
like it was an open and shut case, but this
took so long for justice to actually come to this case.
And it's really because of the parents, the family, the Ohanna,
the village that fought for justice.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yes, and we are so grateful today to have part
of that village with us to join us in a
conversation about Sandy. We have two members of her ohana
with us here today, but first our producer Trevor is
going to walk us through today's case.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
In January of two thousand and six, twenty seven year
old Sandra Galis was found strangled in her car parked
in the garage of her Ala La home. Police launched
the murder investigation, but never arrested a suspect and the
case went cold until now. Kay Police have arrested a
man for the murder of Sandra Gallis. He was her
ex husband, cal what you Police say this has been
(02:01):
a collaborative effort and they say they were able to
track down the suspected killer because of improved DNA technologies
and a new cold case unit.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Sandra Gallis was a twenty seven year old woman who
was killed in Hawaii in two thousand and six. On
the morning of January twenty fifth, Sandra was found dead
in her car parked in her garage at her home
in Kawaii. The causes of death were strangulation and blunt
force trauma to the head. Seven years earlier, she had
(02:32):
married Darren Gallis. Together they had two sons. In April
of two thousand and five, Sandra and Darren separated after
she discovered that he was cheating on her. They decided
to share custody of the boys. Darren was opposed to
getting legally separated. He grew even more upset when he
learned that Sandra had a new relationship with a man
(02:55):
named Ryan Shinjo, a chef who reportedly lavished Sandra with
expensive gifts. When Sandra picked up their sons from visits
with Darren, the two of them would get into bitter arguments,
and in January of two thousand and six, she wrote
to her attorney describing an incident in which Darren had
yelled at her while also shaking her violently as she
(03:17):
was in the hospital. On January twenty third, two thousand
and six, his coworkers witnessed Darren losing his temper when
he saw Ryan and Sandra out together in public. The
following day, Sandra spent the night at Ryan's house, and
the next morning he dropped her off around six am.
Neighbors then saw her car leave to pick up the
(03:38):
boys from their father's house. The car returned a short
while later, but without the boys. She would never arrive
to pick them up. Later that morning, Ryan Shinjo found
Sandra Gallis strangled and beaten in her car parked in
her garage. Friends and family thought this case would be
open and shut and that Darren Gallis would go to jail,
(04:01):
but this was not the case. The police chief said, quote,
you have to have some physical evidence and an eye witness.
Darren Gallis had the means in the motive, but that
was not enough to charge him. Despite Sandra's parents' objections,
Darren gained custody of their sons, Austin and Brayden, and
although Sandra's parents tried to stay in touch with their grandchildren,
(04:23):
they believed that Darren was brainwashing the kids against them.
With no new evidence, the case went cold. Over the years,
Sandra's parents would go door to door seeking new information.
They even appeared on Dateline. They also started a foundation
dedicated to raising awareness of Sandra's murder. Finally, years later,
(04:45):
a key piece of evidence was discovered pointing to Darren Gallus,
and he was indicted for second degree murder in twenty eighteen.
He reached a plea deal and was given a maximum
term of ten years in prison, though the family believes
he deserved worse, and his sentence was reduced in twenty
twenty two. And So who was Sandra Gallis? What really
(05:09):
happened to her in two thousand and six? And how
does this story of a family seeking justice reveal the
power of community and dedication?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Today, we are so grateful to have Lawrence Mendanza Senior
and Lawrence Mendanza Junior. They are the father and the
brother of Sandy Gaullis. We are so honored to have
you both on the show today, and especially Larry, thank
you so much for being here on your birthday. You
(05:45):
just turned eighty two. To be here with us to
talk about your beautiful daughter's it just means so much.
So thank you both for being here.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Thank you for having us so Holi lahanaw Larry, Happy birthday, Arry,
So Dad, We're gonna call you Larry, and then Laurence Junior.
Of course, Laurence, so our listeners know, but thank you
so much for being here. And we know that we
are all from the same beautiful state, raised in Julvity,
(06:15):
and I feel like it's going to be one of
the many things that we share. I would love to
know what was it like growing up for you, Lawrence
in Kawai.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
It was awesome.
Speaker 6 (06:27):
I mean, as you all know, I mean, the state
of Provii is just incredible. Right, It's not just the
beauty of the of the Aina, but also just the
beauty of the people. And it's a privilege to have
grown up there and experienced life on the island.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Absolutely, it's you know, Hawaii is really a special place.
Can you start to tell us about your sister, Like,
what was it like, you know, growing up with your sister?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
What did you guys do together? What was your life together?
Speaker 6 (06:55):
Like, well, you know, the first part of growing up
on Kai we lived on a ranch and on a
whole office, so you know, it was one hundred and
forty two acres, had our own waterfall in front of
the house, and the beach front access.
Speaker 7 (07:06):
So you know, we used to go out.
Speaker 8 (07:07):
I used to take my pelict gun and she used
to get a little fanny pack and we would God,
we had two fruit orchards on the property, so we
would go and we'd be gone all day, right, we
would go.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
We got hungry, we go pick tangerines or oranges or
mangos or whatever.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
And eat whatever shoot does. And those are other things.
Speaker 9 (07:26):
You know.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
If I shot something, I had to eat it. So
I always shot, yeah, right, I had to clean it
and eat it, bring it home. Mom would cook it,
you know. But then we would go to the beach
and just hang out on the beach and play. And
it's time to come home. We knew, you know, started
get dark, all right, we got to go back to
the house. Mom was making dinner.
Speaker 7 (07:42):
So it was you know, it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
What was the age difference between the two of you?
Speaker 5 (07:47):
Two years or year nine months?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
A little a little shorter of a distance. Evet and
I are eleven years apart. But I would just follow
her around everywhere. But we were city girls. We never
got to kill anything and eat it. Peas maybe, but
that's about it. Larry. I would love to know your
your backstory and you and your wife. Obviously you made
the conscious decision to raise Sandy and Lawrence on Kowai.
(08:14):
What what made you decide to do that, especially having
lived all over the world and in Japan. If I'm
not mistaken, I was born on Kawai.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Oh you are a Kawai boy.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Okay, oh wow, I'm a local boy all the way through.
Speaker 7 (08:29):
I love it and I got ready to retire from
the military. Lawrence was three years old. Sandy was two
years old. Mmmm. Sandraw was actually born in Japan, the
country of her her mother. And the reason I came
back to Hawaii was I have I had three brothers,
(08:53):
two older, one younger. We're all military brats.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
If you will, muhullo for your service.
Speaker 7 (09:00):
Thank you. I was the only one that came back
to Kawai. The other three actually ended up living in
Texas and or Oklahoma. I think that basically to take
care mom and dad. There was nobody here to take
care mom and dad. And I think it was a
(09:23):
great decision. I don't regret it, and other than the
fact of losing Sandy, but of course that was her decision.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
So Lawrence, growing up with your sister, you know, as
you guys started to get older, you know, in your
teen years, like what was you know some of your
sister's dreams, like what did she want to be or do.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
You know she always wanted to have a family. You know,
she loved being with her friends, she loved dancing, hula
was she she was, she was she performed a lot
in fact that can verify this. What was she in
the coal plantation day Prix?
Speaker 7 (10:03):
When she was younger, she joined Leilani bond Ulla Lull.
She participated in kikiula competition. M well, she was in
high school. She actually worked part time on why l
(10:24):
e Li riverboat trips up to the Fern Grotto and
Little River. That's where she made her spending money.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I love it. She was a local girl through and through.
Speaker 7 (10:42):
She was never satisfied with everything. She was always in
a hurry to get get what she was doing. She
actually convinced us to let her join the gymnastics for
school when she was five years old. Shortly thereafter and
she decided she wanted to learn hula. So she was
(11:03):
doing gymnastics and dancing and learning to dance sula. I
love it and that was the start of her life.
She always did that. When she went to college after
high school, she wasn't satisfied with taking fifteen or eighteen
credits there per semester. She wanted more. She called us,
(11:23):
I can take more, I can take no. We put
a stop on that. She she wanted to do everything,
but she never really thought about it as to managing
her time. So we'd sit her down and say, Okay,
where are you going to get the time? I'll make time.
I'll make time. That was sy That was that was
(11:45):
her life.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Sounds like Sandy really had a lust for life. And
especially when you dance hula, you have to, you know,
appreciate the eye of the land that you come from.
And she just it's like a beautiful soul. I'd love
(12:22):
to ask you, Lawrence. So we're here to tell Sandy's story,
to get her voice out there and to know more
about what to look for because we're always looking for
the light in the darkness. And so if you feel comfortable,
can you walk us through. Did you see signs leading
(12:46):
up to her unfortunate death of domestic violence or anything
that you were like, Oh, I'm worried for my baby sister.
Speaker 6 (12:55):
Looking back on it, yeah, Hind's like twenty twenty, right,
can you look back on things and you're like, oh,
I would have paid more attention, or we had paid
more attention, maybe something could have been done. So, I mean,
I distinctly remember one instance, and I was I had
come home for it was the summer or what, But
I happened to be home on Kawai and she came
(13:16):
to visit. Is when at that time she only had
her first son, Austin, my oldest nephew, And she was
at the house and we're all sitting around and I
was playing with the kids, and I happened to look
down at her thigh and she had this big old
bruise on her leg, and I was like, and I
jokingly and looking back pretty inappropriately, but.
Speaker 9 (13:41):
What happened there?
Speaker 6 (13:42):
He beat daring, beating you or what?
Speaker 5 (13:45):
And she just kind of played off. She said, no,
I ran into the table or whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
You know, typical response.
Speaker 6 (13:49):
Yeah, yeah, looking back, you know it probably was the
result of of something of that sort.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
And you know, it's it's one of the things that
kind of.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
Wears on me.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
You can't let that get to Lawrence.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
Yeah, yeah, it's for the most part of me.
Speaker 6 (14:04):
She she knew if she ever told me or Dad
or any of the family or any very really close
friends what was really going on, she knew what would happen.
And you know, she was very much the type that
would take care of things on her own, whether it
didn't matter.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
What it was.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know, she was a gutter.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Yeah, so looking back, yeah, there's probably signs that that
weren't as obvious. And me being away from home so much,
I mean, I have seen it a whole lot. If
I was home more, maybe I would have been able
to see more of it and just kind of get
a grasp on it and kind of reel it in.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
And there were definitely signs there.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
One of the reasons that I was so attached to
this case and it so emotionally struck me is just
the circumstances and you know, the way that things happened
and how he didn't get convicted until twelve years later.
But you the family, you're Ohana like you fought and
(15:07):
fought and fought for justice to come.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
You know, how did you do that? Is my question?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
How did you you all stay so strong, you know,
just to keep persevering forward.
Speaker 7 (15:19):
Dad was a spearhead.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
I mean, he made it his life's mission to get
justice from my sister, and he did not let anything get.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
In the way of that.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
You know. He was meeting with the police chief, you know,
every month and had developed a very close relationship with
the police chief.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Was that Chief Perry right, mm hm, Yes, Yes, Dad.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
Was definitely the spearhead for that, and you know it
wouldn't let her name die, and we sat down and
thought about things. I remember thinking about things to keep
her name out there, like fundraisers and charity events, and
because of friends the family, we were able to get
in touch with the y w c A and help
(16:04):
them put together golf course or a golf tournament and
keep my sister's name alive and keep the public aware
of what's going on and you know, generate revenue for
to help fight domestic violence. But that and Mom definitely
were the ones that were not going to let it
go away and disappear.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
And it definitely took a toll on them. I can
definitely say that for sure.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
You know Dad with his hard issues and moms with
their health issues as well, so that Dad was not
going to let it fade away and for it to
be forgotten.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
For sure, they will not let anyone forget Sandy.
Speaker 6 (16:39):
No.
Speaker 7 (16:40):
Well. Started at her graves. I promised her that I
would go until we got close here, and I always
lived by that model. When I make a promise, I
intend to keep it whatever the cost.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Whatever the cost, Yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
Any things with Sandy that you know why she was
growing up. During the awkward ages, we never got along.
She thought it was a cruelest and Mena's father in
the world. She had made it after Reft she was
married and you know, wanted our help and all this.
She said, Well, I thought you were Mena's dead in
(17:22):
the world, but no, I can't live without you. We
made up. We were we were bonding and getting quite
pleasuredly together with each other over the last two or
three years of her life.
Speaker 6 (17:36):
I can definitely say that they but it heads a
lot because they had identical personalities.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Personalities sounds like me and my daughter Leilani. Yeah, I can,
I can relate. I can relate very very much so,
and I'm sure it was different when Sandy became a
parent herself. And is it appropriate and is it comfortable
for you to talk about Sandy's children and how they are.
Speaker 7 (18:05):
There were three and five when Sandy died, and they
lived with their father, who was the perpetrator, so consequently
he poisoned their minds. Children think Sandy was an evil woman,
and Grandpa is unheard of. Grandpa is beyond that. They
(18:28):
won't talk, They won't talk to us, they won't listen
to us. Nothing. But I've had family, friends, relatives that
met with him, so they were cousins and all this.
They just shout him. That's the way the two children are.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 7 (18:45):
In fact, the oldest one, he will turn twenty three
on the twenty fourth of this month, and when I
send them cards and all that, in some cases they
won't even gesh to check. Other cases, they'll keep it
till the bare minimum maximum time before they catch it. No,
(19:05):
thank you, no nothing. We don't hear from them at all.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 7 (19:11):
This was something I anticipated when I decided to pursue
Sandy's case. It was a decision that we had to
make because either we lay Sandy to rest the way
she should have been and corporate the relations with our grandchildren.
That's a decision we made.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
In order to have justice.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
I guess I can ask both of you this question.
You believed that he was the one who did it.
It wasn't Ryan, her boyfriend. All of the evidence was
pointing to Darren.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
There were two different people. Ryan was cooperative. We were
up in Texas visiting with Lawrence and my brother at
the time when Sandy was killed, so we had to
rush back and when we got back, we met Ryan
for the first time. I never you know he was.
He wasn't in our lives to be prior to Andy's death,
(20:08):
but he was cooperative. He had some issues, but and
still on occasion I communicate with him via emails. He's
in he lives in Anola. Darren was just the opposite.
Darren wouldn't have anything to do with us. He discouraged
the two boys from even communicating with us. I uh
(20:28):
when they got a food order for visitors, right and
he signed it and agreed. So every weekend we would
pick the two boys up and he went quite well
for about two or three months. Then started where the
oldest grandson said, I don't I don't really want to
come over there, and I could see the writing on
(20:48):
the wall. They were being badgered. When I brought them
back on Sunday evening, they were being verbally badgered.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Larry, can you tell us a little bit about the
Sandy g Memorial golf tournament that they have every year
in Kawhai.
Speaker 7 (21:24):
After Sandy got killed, there was, you know, as part
of keeping her name and the case alive, that the
young lady that worked at the YWCA News Sandy and Lawrence.
She was one of their teachers when they were in
elementary school at Saint Katherine School. And this particular person
(21:50):
was the principal of Saint Katrine School when Sandy graduated,
so you know she knew Sandy quite well. Yeah, after
Sandy died.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
And I was I was in.
Speaker 7 (22:04):
I basically told the police that, you know, I was
going to be a thorn in their side, that the
case was so And a couple of years after this
was going, it was looking like the case was going
on the cold case files. So I set up an
appointment with the police chief and went in to see him. Unfortunately,
(22:28):
he kind of took an interest in Sandy's case. He
had retired from Honu Police Department as a major and
now he was a police chief and on Kawhi, so
he had contacts in Honolulu. He brought in the cold
case team from Honolulu and they, you know, kept the
(22:50):
thing going. But in the process I got with Renee,
who is who had moved from an employee at the
at the YW to the executive director of the YW.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Un koy okay Oh.
Speaker 7 (23:11):
After we got organized about a year after Sandy's death,
the year year and a half. We decided to start
a golf tournament.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Wow, fantastic we did.
Speaker 7 (23:21):
We do it every year. Now it's it's like the
seventeenth or eighteen anniversary coming.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Up, and it's August of twenty twenty three. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (23:30):
Yeah, first tournament only had like about thirteen or fourteen teams.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Still pretty good.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
Yeah, side different scratch. There was really nothing. We really
didn't know what we were doing. But as we progress
for the last two years, we've matched out. The maximum
is thirty six teams that we can have in one
one shift, if you will. If we get anything bigger,
then we'd have to have a second shift.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Wow.
Speaker 7 (23:59):
They uses their earnings for domestic violence in YWCA activities,
but averages out maybe about on an average about maybe
twenty thousand.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
That's fantastic, goes to the foundation, right for the YWCA.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
Right, I'd beget questions over and over that I want
to emphasized it. As co sponsors of the thing, we
did nothing.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yeah, you're not making money, that's not what you're doing.
Speaker 7 (24:30):
Yeah, we're not there to make money. Well, we're there
to keep Sandy's name going on. That being said, it
costs me out of pocket. On an average between five
hundred and fifteen hundred dollars for every tournament, and Launch
contributes some of it. But we got to where we
(24:53):
give out a sleeve a sleeve of three three golf
balls in a box of a logo golf balls. We
through relatives, family and et cetera, we came up with
logo for Sandy g and I had it printed, I
had it made out, and then we had it put
(25:14):
on golf baults and back this year, I spent over
one thousand dollars getting two years supply of golf logo
golf bault, which is one of the things I donate
to the tournament. Lawrence doronates the logo teas and ballmarkers.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
That's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
We also get a lot of help from the community,
a lot of donations from businesses and you know, family
members and contributing and and even like people just reaching out.
We have donations from all over all over the country,
golfers coming in from all over the country a lot
of times. Yeah, it's just another way for us to
help keep the name alive as well as generate money
(25:54):
for the y w c A and Kawhi to help
prevent I've always said, if we can help prevent one
other individual or family from going through what we went through,
we've we've done our job. Not only are we keeping
my sister's name alive, but we're helping others not have
to endure what my sister endured and what we endured
as well.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Absolutely, so, Sandy has a monument at the White b
C on Kola, and can you tell us a little
bit about that, Lawrence, weren't you there for the opening
of that? I feel like I saw something with you
for part of it.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
They it was kind of a two part deal. They
put a plaque there with my sister's picture and kind
of her story.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
They had a true opening when they had the cranes
put in, and I was not there for that.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
My parents were there, but they had a big celebration
and almost a lot of my sister's friends showed up,
and it was right there in downtown Lehuy. It's it's
definitely a monument that that keeps my sister's name alive,
but definitely is kind of a ray of hope there
at the White BCA for anyone that just drives buyers
or comes by.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
To see it.
Speaker 7 (27:03):
How Howard came about was when I when they agreed
to start the golf tournament. So I kind of fell off,
felt obligated to go in and help them. So I
was going in just about every day, five days a week,
doing handy dandy work on maintenance, so little minor maintenance,
(27:27):
whatever they wanted to help. One day I went in
there and I was so check in with the executive
director to see what she wanted, if she had anything
for me to do, and she said, well, have a seat,
let's have a talk. And okay, she said, well with
the board has just met last night and they agreed
(27:52):
to make a monument for Sandy. And they were interested
to know whether I was, you know, I was agree
to it or whatever. Of course keeping her name alive yet, yeah,
that was all fort What they didn't tell me was
(28:12):
we expect you to make the monument.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Oh okay, that's a big piece to leave out.
Speaker 7 (28:20):
So there was one worker, a young fellow, he's in
his forties that I was training. He worked there full
time so and he wasn't very familiar with all the
mating and stuff. So I was training him on where
whatever I was doing. Bring him along and short, So
(28:40):
long story, short, he and I ended up making the
moss rock we true to why. We got a guy
to volunteer to donate a look at a payloader bucket
full of moss rock that we had to go down
and pick up with a truck and aul it up
to the site we had. I had another friend come
(29:02):
in and there was a big palm tree there that
we had to get out and some boulders we had
to move, and he had a little bayloader, so he
came down and did that, and once we got it
all leveled off, I made the forms for the for
the base and we did a moss rock monument stand
(29:25):
plus around.
Speaker 9 (29:28):
Seat.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Oh so someone can sit there.
Speaker 7 (29:31):
What a lot of people most people don't know is
on the seat in it's marsh rock around and then
a marble slab on top. But in the middle of
that we ended up putting a crime capsule in, Oh
you did.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
What year was that that you did?
Speaker 9 (29:51):
That?
Speaker 7 (29:51):
So have good ten years ago and I had never
done work with marsh rock before. Fortunately they help or
had had some experience, so we between the two of
us we got it done and ironically not the monument
even the logo of Sandy we put on Sandy's golf boat.
(30:13):
I have a cousin living up right outside of Los Angeles,
and he's about two months older than I am, and
he's a very educated person who's got a PhD. And
he's a part time artist and photographer. So I got
(30:33):
with him, told him what we wanted on the monument,
and between he and I and over the phone, he
drew up exactly.
Speaker 6 (30:43):
What we wanted.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Well, I promise you we will visit her memorial when
we go to Lihue Koway. Yeah, I would love to know.
How do you imoa right? How do you move onward
and upward?
Speaker 6 (30:59):
Is?
Speaker 2 (30:59):
What does your healing journey look like? I'd love to
know from your perspective, first, Lawrence, if we could, as
an uncle, as a brother, I want to know about
you personally, how do you heal if that's even possible.
Speaker 5 (31:14):
Keeping her alive?
Speaker 9 (31:15):
I have two children on my own, my oldest Sander.
You know, when my wife was pregnant with my son, were.
Speaker 5 (31:26):
We definitely wanted to.
Speaker 9 (31:28):
Keep my sister's.
Speaker 5 (31:31):
Memory alive.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
And you know, we tossed names back and forth and
we finally decided on Sander, spelt a little differently than
the normal.
Speaker 7 (31:40):
It's s A N d R.
Speaker 9 (31:42):
So we basically took Sandra my sister's ficial friends and
flip floped the last two letters. So and both my children,
my son Sander.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
And my daughter Brelan, both absolutely know my sister although
they never met her. Yeah, we celebrate her birthday. We
have her pictures up in the house. Obviously, my son's
named after her. It's amazing because there's times where we'll
just be sitting around and talking and my.
Speaker 9 (32:11):
Daughter go, Daddy, I miss and Sandy, or my son
will say the same thing, I miss as Sandy. I
wish I met her. So that's definitely you know, it's.
Speaker 6 (32:21):
Keeping her memory alive and you know, passing it on
to my kids and making sure my kids understand.
Speaker 9 (32:26):
And and my son is is very inquisitive. He's a
very smart boy, and he's he's.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
Always asking questions, well, why why did this happen, daddy?
And you know, why do people do that? And you know,
it also gives me and my wife an opportunity to
educate both our kids on situations like this and and
to have them understand that.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
This is not something we do.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
If you see it happen, you want to step up
and put a stop to it, and then they both
know about the golf tournament.
Speaker 9 (32:55):
Like you said, looking for that ray of sunshine, you know,
and looking for the light in the darkness and turning
a good into a bad. And so we're definitely having.
Speaker 6 (33:05):
My children, you know, pass on the positive from it.
Speaker 9 (33:09):
It's it's it's something we definitely look to do.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
You know, Larry, can you tell us what the light
would be in your story? You know, as as Sandra's dad.
What last words could you leave us?
Speaker 7 (33:27):
I don't know if there is a light for me
at the end of the tunnel. The light was getting
Sandy's case solved and putting her to risk. Maybe that's
what I came to this world for. I don't know,
But I really have no desire, if you will, to
have anything. I've done what I tended to do. Now
(33:50):
there's just a matter of living life and trying to
have our life. My wife and I is as comfortable
as possible. As far as I'm concerned with me, there
is no light at the end of the tunnel that
I did what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
In my humble opinion, Larry, you are the light. That
is the light. Yeah, you are the light I know
your your wife, and your son, Lawrence, and your grandbabies,
and Sandy knows you're the light. I definitely want to say,
from the absolute bottom of our hearts, Mahalo Nuiloa, thank
(34:31):
you so much for sharing your light, Sandy's light with us.
I know it's not easy to talk about, but I
believe in moments that are supposed to happen for a reason,
and today, in this moment, on Larry's eighty second birthday,
(34:53):
we were supposed to be here. We were all supposed
to be together and to share Sandy's story, and we
promise you we will not let the world forget her.
Speaker 7 (35:04):
Once Sandy's case was solved, I had agreed with the
Dateline at the time that I would give them the
full information I had, and they agreed not to publish here.
It built after the case was solved. After the trial, beautiful,
(35:24):
they held up to their agreement. I held up to mine.
After that was done, I always bound and determined that's it.
I got what I did, what I wanted to do,
and I was not going to participate in any additional
broadcast which Oxygen Lawrence took over. I didn't participate in that,
(35:45):
so podcasts. I'm not familiar with it. Something told me
to go ahead and participate in it. So consider yourselves lucky.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
We are.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
We have to thank you from the bottom of our
hearts from being here. You got two new nieces and
learned to got a new cousin so or new two
cousins so well, we.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
Welcome both the ensa Ohanna.
Speaker 7 (36:09):
I'd like to say any of you come to Kawaii,
is what they said.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Today's message of hope and healing goes out to the
memory of Santra Goddless in this story of absolute heartbreak.
We never want to lose sight of the person whose
light was lost way too soon to such tragedy.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Sandra was a beautiful, strong local girl with a strong
inner drive. Her father even said in grade school that
she had perfect attendance and was described as being a
teacher's pet. Also in high school, she ran track and
she danced.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Tula Sandy's Ohanna. Her family shared with us that she
was full of energy, she wanted to do everything all
at once, and she was a absolute go getter. Sandra
shined as a gymnast and she even had dreams of
becoming a journalist.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
One day after she separated from her husband, she became
an assistant food and beverage manager at the Grand Hyatt
on Kawhi, where her co workers said that she was
a great manager and she would give her.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
All to everyone. Sandra would never become the journalist that
she dreamt of being, but at the time of her death,
she was truly coming into her own. She ended up
getting married young, and she had two beautiful children, and
she was a devoted mother. She was just finding out
who she was meant to be.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
And so today we want to honor that bright light
that was Sandy. Onward and upward, Emua Emua.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
That's our show for today. We'd love to hear what
you thought about today's discussion and if there's a case
you'd like for us.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
To cover, find us on social media or email us
at facingevilpod at tenderfoot dot tv.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
And one small request, if you haven't already, please find
us on iTunes and give us a good rating and
a good review. If you like what we do, your
support is always cherished. Until next time.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Aloha.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Facing Evil is a production of iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV.
The show is hosted by Russia Paccuerero in a Vetchintila,
Matt Frederick and Alex Williams our executive producers on behalf
of iHeartRadio with producers Trevor Young and Jesse Funk, Donald
Albright in Pain Lindsay our executive producers on behalf of
(39:02):
Tenderfoot TV, alongside producer Tracy Kaplan. Our researcher is Carolyn Talmage.
Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Find us on
social media or email us at facingevilpod at tenderfoot dot tv.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
(39:26):
favorite shows
You're listening to Facing Evil, a production of iHeartRadio and
Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast
are solely those of the individuals participating in the show
and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV.
This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable
for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Helloha, everyone, Welcome back to Facing Evil. I'm Rascha Pecerreiro
and I'mivet Genteel. In this week, we're talking about the
murder of Sandra Gaullis. This murder took place back in
two thousand and six, and it happened in Hawaii, our
home state. And I know many people think of the
(00:46):
beautiful islands of Hawaii as a tropical paradise, which it
absolutely is. But it's a place you don't think that
murder or crime would happen. But it's just a place
like anywhere else, and sadly, it does happen sometimes.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
And the thing about this case is that it seemed
like it was an open and shut case, but this
took so long for justice to actually come to this case.
And it's really because of the parents, the family, the Ohanna,
the village that fought for justice.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yes, and we are so grateful today to have part
of that village with us to join us in a
conversation about Sandy. We have two members of her ohana
with us here today, but first our producer Trevor is
going to walk us through today's case.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
In January of two thousand and six, twenty seven year
old Sandra Galis was found strangled in her car parked
in the garage of her Ala La home. Police launched
the murder investigation, but never arrested a suspect and the
case went cold until now. Kay Police have arrested a
man for the murder of Sandra Gallis. He was her
ex husband, cal what you Police say this has been
(02:01):
a collaborative effort and they say they were able to
track down the suspected killer because of improved DNA technologies
and a new cold case unit.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Sandra Gallis was a twenty seven year old woman who
was killed in Hawaii in two thousand and six. On
the morning of January twenty fifth, Sandra was found dead
in her car parked in her garage at her home
in Kawaii. The causes of death were strangulation and blunt
force trauma to the head. Seven years earlier, she had
(02:32):
married Darren Gallis. Together they had two sons. In April
of two thousand and five, Sandra and Darren separated after
she discovered that he was cheating on her. They decided
to share custody of the boys. Darren was opposed to
getting legally separated. He grew even more upset when he
learned that Sandra had a new relationship with a man
(02:55):
named Ryan Shinjo, a chef who reportedly lavished Sandra with
expensive gifts. When Sandra picked up their sons from visits
with Darren, the two of them would get into bitter arguments,
and in January of two thousand and six, she wrote
to her attorney describing an incident in which Darren had
yelled at her while also shaking her violently as she
(03:17):
was in the hospital. On January twenty third, two thousand
and six, his coworkers witnessed Darren losing his temper when
he saw Ryan and Sandra out together in public. The
following day, Sandra spent the night at Ryan's house, and
the next morning he dropped her off around six am.
Neighbors then saw her car leave to pick up the
(03:38):
boys from their father's house. The car returned a short
while later, but without the boys. She would never arrive
to pick them up. Later that morning, Ryan Shinjo found
Sandra Gallis strangled and beaten in her car parked in
her garage. Friends and family thought this case would be
open and shut and that Darren Gallis would go to jail,
(04:01):
but this was not the case. The police chief said, quote,
you have to have some physical evidence and an eye witness.
Darren Gallis had the means in the motive, but that
was not enough to charge him. Despite Sandra's parents' objections,
Darren gained custody of their sons, Austin and Brayden, and
although Sandra's parents tried to stay in touch with their grandchildren,
(04:23):
they believed that Darren was brainwashing the kids against them.
With no new evidence, the case went cold. Over the years,
Sandra's parents would go door to door seeking new information.
They even appeared on Dateline. They also started a foundation
dedicated to raising awareness of Sandra's murder. Finally, years later,
(04:45):
a key piece of evidence was discovered pointing to Darren Gallus,
and he was indicted for second degree murder in twenty eighteen.
He reached a plea deal and was given a maximum
term of ten years in prison, though the family believes
he deserved worse, and his sentence was reduced in twenty
twenty two. And So who was Sandra Gallis? What really
(05:09):
happened to her in two thousand and six? And how
does this story of a family seeking justice reveal the
power of community and dedication?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Today, we are so grateful to have Lawrence Mendanza Senior
and Lawrence Mendanza Junior. They are the father and the
brother of Sandy Gaullis. We are so honored to have
you both on the show today, and especially Larry, thank
you so much for being here on your birthday. You
(05:45):
just turned eighty two. To be here with us to
talk about your beautiful daughter's it just means so much.
So thank you both for being here.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Thank you for having us so Holi lahanaw Larry, Happy birthday, Arry,
So Dad, We're gonna call you Larry, and then Laurence Junior.
Of course, Laurence, so our listeners know, but thank you
so much for being here. And we know that we
are all from the same beautiful state, raised in Julvity,
(06:15):
and I feel like it's going to be one of
the many things that we share. I would love to
know what was it like growing up for you, Lawrence
in Kawai.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
It was awesome.
Speaker 6 (06:27):
I mean, as you all know, I mean, the state
of Provii is just incredible. Right, It's not just the
beauty of the of the Aina, but also just the
beauty of the people. And it's a privilege to have
grown up there and experienced life on the island.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Absolutely, it's you know, Hawaii is really a special place.
Can you start to tell us about your sister, Like,
what was it like, you know, growing up with your sister?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
What did you guys do together? What was your life together?
Speaker 6 (06:55):
Like, well, you know, the first part of growing up
on Kai we lived on a ranch and on a
whole office, so you know, it was one hundred and
forty two acres, had our own waterfall in front of
the house, and the beach front access.
Speaker 7 (07:06):
So you know, we used to go out.
Speaker 8 (07:07):
I used to take my pelict gun and she used
to get a little fanny pack and we would God,
we had two fruit orchards on the property, so we
would go and we'd be gone all day, right, we
would go.
Speaker 6 (07:18):
We got hungry, we go pick tangerines or oranges or
mangos or whatever.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
And eat whatever shoot does. And those are other things.
Speaker 9 (07:26):
You know.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
If I shot something, I had to eat it. So
I always shot, yeah, right, I had to clean it
and eat it, bring it home. Mom would cook it,
you know. But then we would go to the beach
and just hang out on the beach and play. And
it's time to come home. We knew, you know, started
get dark, all right, we got to go back to
the house. Mom was making dinner.
Speaker 7 (07:42):
So it was you know, it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
What was the age difference between the two of you?
Speaker 5 (07:47):
Two years or year nine months?
Speaker 2 (07:49):
A little a little shorter of a distance. Evet and
I are eleven years apart. But I would just follow
her around everywhere. But we were city girls. We never
got to kill anything and eat it. Peas maybe, but
that's about it. Larry. I would love to know your
your backstory and you and your wife. Obviously you made
the conscious decision to raise Sandy and Lawrence on Kowai.
(08:14):
What what made you decide to do that, especially having
lived all over the world and in Japan. If I'm
not mistaken, I was born on Kawai.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Oh you are a Kawai boy.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Okay, oh wow, I'm a local boy all the way through.
Speaker 7 (08:29):
I love it and I got ready to retire from
the military. Lawrence was three years old. Sandy was two
years old. Mmmm. Sandraw was actually born in Japan, the
country of her her mother. And the reason I came
back to Hawaii was I have I had three brothers,
(08:53):
two older, one younger. We're all military brats.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
If you will, muhullo for your service.
Speaker 7 (09:00):
Thank you. I was the only one that came back
to Kawai. The other three actually ended up living in
Texas and or Oklahoma. I think that basically to take
care mom and dad. There was nobody here to take
care mom and dad. And I think it was a
(09:23):
great decision. I don't regret it, and other than the
fact of losing Sandy, but of course that was her decision.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
So Lawrence, growing up with your sister, you know, as
you guys started to get older, you know, in your
teen years, like what was you know some of your
sister's dreams, like what did she want to be or do.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
You know she always wanted to have a family. You know,
she loved being with her friends, she loved dancing, hula
was she she was, she was she performed a lot
in fact that can verify this. What was she in
the coal plantation day Prix?
Speaker 7 (10:03):
When she was younger, she joined Leilani bond Ulla Lull.
She participated in kikiula competition. M well, she was in
high school. She actually worked part time on why l
(10:24):
e Li riverboat trips up to the Fern Grotto and
Little River. That's where she made her spending money.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I love it. She was a local girl through and through.
Speaker 7 (10:42):
She was never satisfied with everything. She was always in
a hurry to get get what she was doing. She
actually convinced us to let her join the gymnastics for
school when she was five years old. Shortly thereafter and
she decided she wanted to learn hula. So she was
(11:03):
doing gymnastics and dancing and learning to dance sula. I
love it and that was the start of her life.
She always did that. When she went to college after
high school, she wasn't satisfied with taking fifteen or eighteen
credits there per semester. She wanted more. She called us,
(11:23):
I can take more, I can take no. We put
a stop on that. She she wanted to do everything,
but she never really thought about it as to managing
her time. So we'd sit her down and say, Okay,
where are you going to get the time? I'll make time.
I'll make time. That was sy That was that was
(11:45):
her life.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Sounds like Sandy really had a lust for life. And
especially when you dance hula, you have to, you know,
appreciate the eye of the land that you come from.
And she just it's like a beautiful soul. I'd love
(12:22):
to ask you, Lawrence. So we're here to tell Sandy's story,
to get her voice out there and to know more
about what to look for because we're always looking for
the light in the darkness. And so if you feel comfortable,
can you walk us through. Did you see signs leading
(12:46):
up to her unfortunate death of domestic violence or anything
that you were like, Oh, I'm worried for my baby sister.
Speaker 6 (12:55):
Looking back on it, yeah, Hind's like twenty twenty, right,
can you look back on things and you're like, oh,
I would have paid more attention, or we had paid
more attention, maybe something could have been done. So, I mean,
I distinctly remember one instance, and I was I had
come home for it was the summer or what, But
I happened to be home on Kawai and she came
(13:16):
to visit. Is when at that time she only had
her first son, Austin, my oldest nephew, And she was
at the house and we're all sitting around and I
was playing with the kids, and I happened to look
down at her thigh and she had this big old
bruise on her leg, and I was like, and I
jokingly and looking back pretty inappropriately, but.
Speaker 9 (13:41):
What happened there?
Speaker 6 (13:42):
He beat daring, beating you or what?
Speaker 5 (13:45):
And she just kind of played off. She said, no,
I ran into the table or whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
You know, typical response.
Speaker 6 (13:49):
Yeah, yeah, looking back, you know it probably was the
result of of something of that sort.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
And you know, it's it's one of the things that
kind of.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
Wears on me.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
You can't let that get to Lawrence.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
Yeah, yeah, it's for the most part of me.
Speaker 6 (14:04):
She she knew if she ever told me or Dad
or any of the family or any very really close
friends what was really going on, she knew what would happen.
And you know, she was very much the type that
would take care of things on her own, whether it
didn't matter.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
What it was.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know, she was a gutter.
Speaker 6 (14:23):
Yeah, so looking back, yeah, there's probably signs that that
weren't as obvious. And me being away from home so much,
I mean, I have seen it a whole lot. If
I was home more, maybe I would have been able
to see more of it and just kind of get
a grasp on it and kind of reel it in.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
And there were definitely signs there.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
One of the reasons that I was so attached to
this case and it so emotionally struck me is just
the circumstances and you know, the way that things happened
and how he didn't get convicted until twelve years later.
But you the family, you're Ohana like you fought and
(15:07):
fought and fought for justice to come.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
You know, how did you do that? Is my question?
Speaker 3 (15:12):
How did you you all stay so strong, you know,
just to keep persevering forward.
Speaker 7 (15:19):
Dad was a spearhead.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
I mean, he made it his life's mission to get
justice from my sister, and he did not let anything get.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
In the way of that.
Speaker 6 (15:30):
You know. He was meeting with the police chief, you know,
every month and had developed a very close relationship with
the police chief.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Was that Chief Perry right, mm hm, Yes, Yes, Dad.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
Was definitely the spearhead for that, and you know it
wouldn't let her name die, and we sat down and
thought about things. I remember thinking about things to keep
her name out there, like fundraisers and charity events, and
because of friends the family, we were able to get
in touch with the y w c A and help
(16:04):
them put together golf course or a golf tournament and
keep my sister's name alive and keep the public aware
of what's going on and you know, generate revenue for
to help fight domestic violence. But that and Mom definitely
were the ones that were not going to let it
go away and disappear.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
And it definitely took a toll on them. I can
definitely say that for sure.
Speaker 6 (16:26):
You know Dad with his hard issues and moms with
their health issues as well, so that Dad was not
going to let it fade away and for it to
be forgotten.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
For sure, they will not let anyone forget Sandy.
Speaker 6 (16:39):
No.
Speaker 7 (16:40):
Well. Started at her graves. I promised her that I
would go until we got close here, and I always
lived by that model. When I make a promise, I
intend to keep it whatever the cost.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Whatever the cost, Yeah.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
Any things with Sandy that you know why she was
growing up. During the awkward ages, we never got along.
She thought it was a cruelest and Mena's father in
the world. She had made it after Reft she was
married and you know, wanted our help and all this.
She said, Well, I thought you were Mena's dead in
(17:22):
the world, but no, I can't live without you. We
made up. We were we were bonding and getting quite
pleasuredly together with each other over the last two or
three years of her life.
Speaker 6 (17:36):
I can definitely say that they but it heads a
lot because they had identical personalities.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Personalities sounds like me and my daughter Leilani. Yeah, I can,
I can relate. I can relate very very much so,
and I'm sure it was different when Sandy became a
parent herself. And is it appropriate and is it comfortable
for you to talk about Sandy's children and how they are.
Speaker 7 (18:05):
There were three and five when Sandy died, and they
lived with their father, who was the perpetrator, so consequently
he poisoned their minds. Children think Sandy was an evil woman,
and Grandpa is unheard of. Grandpa is beyond that. They
(18:28):
won't talk, They won't talk to us, they won't listen
to us. Nothing. But I've had family, friends, relatives that
met with him, so they were cousins and all this.
They just shout him. That's the way the two children are.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 7 (18:45):
In fact, the oldest one, he will turn twenty three
on the twenty fourth of this month, and when I
send them cards and all that, in some cases they
won't even gesh to check. Other cases, they'll keep it
till the bare minimum maximum time before they catch it. No,
(19:05):
thank you, no nothing. We don't hear from them at all.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 7 (19:11):
This was something I anticipated when I decided to pursue
Sandy's case. It was a decision that we had to
make because either we lay Sandy to rest the way
she should have been and corporate the relations with our grandchildren.
That's a decision we made.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
In order to have justice.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
I guess I can ask both of you this question.
You believed that he was the one who did it.
It wasn't Ryan, her boyfriend. All of the evidence was
pointing to Darren.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
There were two different people. Ryan was cooperative. We were
up in Texas visiting with Lawrence and my brother at
the time when Sandy was killed, so we had to
rush back and when we got back, we met Ryan
for the first time. I never you know he was.
He wasn't in our lives to be prior to Andy's death,
(20:08):
but he was cooperative. He had some issues, but and
still on occasion I communicate with him via emails. He's
in he lives in Anola. Darren was just the opposite.
Darren wouldn't have anything to do with us. He discouraged
the two boys from even communicating with us. I uh
(20:28):
when they got a food order for visitors, right and
he signed it and agreed. So every weekend we would
pick the two boys up and he went quite well
for about two or three months. Then started where the
oldest grandson said, I don't I don't really want to
come over there, and I could see the writing on
(20:48):
the wall. They were being badgered. When I brought them
back on Sunday evening, they were being verbally badgered.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Larry, can you tell us a little bit about the
Sandy g Memorial golf tournament that they have every year
in Kawhai.
Speaker 7 (21:24):
After Sandy got killed, there was, you know, as part
of keeping her name and the case alive, that the
young lady that worked at the YWCA News Sandy and Lawrence.
She was one of their teachers when they were in
elementary school at Saint Katherine School. And this particular person
(21:50):
was the principal of Saint Katrine School when Sandy graduated,
so you know she knew Sandy quite well. Yeah, after
Sandy died.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
And I was I was in.
Speaker 7 (22:04):
I basically told the police that, you know, I was
going to be a thorn in their side, that the
case was so And a couple of years after this
was going, it was looking like the case was going
on the cold case files. So I set up an
appointment with the police chief and went in to see him. Unfortunately,
(22:28):
he kind of took an interest in Sandy's case. He
had retired from Honu Police Department as a major and
now he was a police chief and on Kawhi, so
he had contacts in Honolulu. He brought in the cold
case team from Honolulu and they, you know, kept the
(22:50):
thing going. But in the process I got with Renee,
who is who had moved from an employee at the
at the YW to the executive director of the YW.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Un koy okay Oh.
Speaker 7 (23:11):
After we got organized about a year after Sandy's death,
the year year and a half. We decided to start
a golf tournament.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Wow, fantastic we did.
Speaker 7 (23:21):
We do it every year. Now it's it's like the
seventeenth or eighteen anniversary coming.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Up, and it's August of twenty twenty three. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (23:30):
Yeah, first tournament only had like about thirteen or fourteen teams.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Still pretty good.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
Yeah, side different scratch. There was really nothing. We really
didn't know what we were doing. But as we progress
for the last two years, we've matched out. The maximum
is thirty six teams that we can have in one
one shift, if you will. If we get anything bigger,
then we'd have to have a second shift.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Wow.
Speaker 7 (23:59):
They uses their earnings for domestic violence in YWCA activities,
but averages out maybe about on an average about maybe
twenty thousand.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
That's fantastic, goes to the foundation, right for the YWCA.
Speaker 7 (24:18):
Right, I'd beget questions over and over that I want
to emphasized it. As co sponsors of the thing, we
did nothing.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yeah, you're not making money, that's not what you're doing.
Speaker 7 (24:30):
Yeah, we're not there to make money. Well, we're there
to keep Sandy's name going on. That being said, it
costs me out of pocket. On an average between five
hundred and fifteen hundred dollars for every tournament, and Launch
contributes some of it. But we got to where we
(24:53):
give out a sleeve a sleeve of three three golf
balls in a box of a logo golf balls. We
through relatives, family and et cetera, we came up with
logo for Sandy g and I had it printed, I
had it made out, and then we had it put
(25:14):
on golf baults and back this year, I spent over
one thousand dollars getting two years supply of golf logo
golf bault, which is one of the things I donate
to the tournament. Lawrence doronates the logo teas and ballmarkers.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
That's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 6 (25:31):
We also get a lot of help from the community,
a lot of donations from businesses and you know, family
members and contributing and and even like people just reaching out.
We have donations from all over all over the country,
golfers coming in from all over the country a lot
of times. Yeah, it's just another way for us to
help keep the name alive as well as generate money
(25:54):
for the y w c A and Kawhi to help
prevent I've always said, if we can help prevent one
other individual or family from going through what we went through,
we've we've done our job. Not only are we keeping
my sister's name alive, but we're helping others not have
to endure what my sister endured and what we endured
as well.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Absolutely, so, Sandy has a monument at the White b
C on Kola, and can you tell us a little
bit about that, Lawrence, weren't you there for the opening
of that? I feel like I saw something with you
for part of it.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
They it was kind of a two part deal. They
put a plaque there with my sister's picture and kind
of her story.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
They had a true opening when they had the cranes
put in, and I was not there for that.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
My parents were there, but they had a big celebration
and almost a lot of my sister's friends showed up,
and it was right there in downtown Lehuy. It's it's
definitely a monument that that keeps my sister's name alive,
but definitely is kind of a ray of hope there
at the White BCA for anyone that just drives buyers
or comes by.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
To see it.
Speaker 7 (27:03):
How Howard came about was when I when they agreed
to start the golf tournament. So I kind of fell off,
felt obligated to go in and help them. So I
was going in just about every day, five days a week,
doing handy dandy work on maintenance, so little minor maintenance,
(27:27):
whatever they wanted to help. One day I went in
there and I was so check in with the executive
director to see what she wanted, if she had anything
for me to do, and she said, well, have a seat,
let's have a talk. And okay, she said, well with
the board has just met last night and they agreed
(27:52):
to make a monument for Sandy. And they were interested
to know whether I was, you know, I was agree
to it or whatever. Of course keeping her name alive yet, yeah,
that was all fort What they didn't tell me was
(28:12):
we expect you to make the monument.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Oh okay, that's a big piece to leave out.
Speaker 7 (28:20):
So there was one worker, a young fellow, he's in
his forties that I was training. He worked there full
time so and he wasn't very familiar with all the
mating and stuff. So I was training him on where
whatever I was doing. Bring him along and short, So
(28:40):
long story, short, he and I ended up making the
moss rock we true to why. We got a guy
to volunteer to donate a look at a payloader bucket
full of moss rock that we had to go down
and pick up with a truck and aul it up
to the site we had. I had another friend come
(29:02):
in and there was a big palm tree there that
we had to get out and some boulders we had
to move, and he had a little bayloader, so he
came down and did that, and once we got it
all leveled off, I made the forms for the for
the base and we did a moss rock monument stand
(29:25):
plus around.
Speaker 9 (29:28):
Seat.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Oh so someone can sit there.
Speaker 7 (29:31):
What a lot of people most people don't know is
on the seat in it's marsh rock around and then
a marble slab on top. But in the middle of
that we ended up putting a crime capsule in, Oh
you did.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
What year was that that you did?
Speaker 9 (29:51):
That?
Speaker 7 (29:51):
So have good ten years ago and I had never
done work with marsh rock before. Fortunately they help or
had had some experience, so we between the two of
us we got it done and ironically not the monument
even the logo of Sandy we put on Sandy's golf boat.
(30:13):
I have a cousin living up right outside of Los Angeles,
and he's about two months older than I am, and
he's a very educated person who's got a PhD. And
he's a part time artist and photographer. So I got
(30:33):
with him, told him what we wanted on the monument,
and between he and I and over the phone, he
drew up exactly.
Speaker 6 (30:43):
What we wanted.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Well, I promise you we will visit her memorial when
we go to Lihue Koway. Yeah, I would love to know.
How do you imoa right? How do you move onward
and upward?
Speaker 6 (30:59):
Is?
Speaker 2 (30:59):
What does your healing journey look like? I'd love to
know from your perspective, first, Lawrence, if we could, as
an uncle, as a brother, I want to know about
you personally, how do you heal if that's even possible.
Speaker 5 (31:14):
Keeping her alive?
Speaker 9 (31:15):
I have two children on my own, my oldest Sander.
You know, when my wife was pregnant with my son, were.
Speaker 5 (31:26):
We definitely wanted to.
Speaker 9 (31:28):
Keep my sister's.
Speaker 5 (31:31):
Memory alive.
Speaker 6 (31:33):
And you know, we tossed names back and forth and
we finally decided on Sander, spelt a little differently than
the normal.
Speaker 7 (31:40):
It's s A N d R.
Speaker 9 (31:42):
So we basically took Sandra my sister's ficial friends and
flip floped the last two letters. So and both my children,
my son Sander.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
And my daughter Brelan, both absolutely know my sister although
they never met her. Yeah, we celebrate her birthday. We
have her pictures up in the house. Obviously, my son's
named after her. It's amazing because there's times where we'll
just be sitting around and talking and my.
Speaker 9 (32:11):
Daughter go, Daddy, I miss and Sandy, or my son
will say the same thing, I miss as Sandy. I
wish I met her. So that's definitely you know, it's.
Speaker 6 (32:21):
Keeping her memory alive and you know, passing it on
to my kids and making sure my kids understand.
Speaker 9 (32:26):
And and my son is is very inquisitive. He's a
very smart boy, and he's he's.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
Always asking questions, well, why why did this happen, daddy?
And you know, why do people do that? And you know,
it also gives me and my wife an opportunity to
educate both our kids on situations like this and and
to have them understand that.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
This is not something we do.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
If you see it happen, you want to step up
and put a stop to it, and then they both
know about the golf tournament.
Speaker 9 (32:55):
Like you said, looking for that ray of sunshine, you know,
and looking for the light in the darkness and turning
a good into a bad. And so we're definitely having.
Speaker 6 (33:05):
My children, you know, pass on the positive from it.
Speaker 9 (33:09):
It's it's it's something we definitely look to do.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
You know, Larry, can you tell us what the light
would be in your story? You know, as as Sandra's dad.
What last words could you leave us?
Speaker 7 (33:27):
I don't know if there is a light for me
at the end of the tunnel. The light was getting
Sandy's case solved and putting her to risk. Maybe that's
what I came to this world for. I don't know,
But I really have no desire, if you will, to
have anything. I've done what I tended to do. Now
(33:50):
there's just a matter of living life and trying to
have our life. My wife and I is as comfortable
as possible. As far as I'm concerned with me, there
is no light at the end of the tunnel that
I did what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
In my humble opinion, Larry, you are the light. That
is the light. Yeah, you are the light I know
your your wife, and your son, Lawrence, and your grandbabies,
and Sandy knows you're the light. I definitely want to say,
from the absolute bottom of our hearts, Mahalo Nuiloa, thank
(34:31):
you so much for sharing your light, Sandy's light with us.
I know it's not easy to talk about, but I
believe in moments that are supposed to happen for a reason,
and today, in this moment, on Larry's eighty second birthday,
(34:53):
we were supposed to be here. We were all supposed
to be together and to share Sandy's story, and we
promise you we will not let the world forget her.
Speaker 7 (35:04):
Once Sandy's case was solved, I had agreed with the
Dateline at the time that I would give them the
full information I had, and they agreed not to publish here.
It built after the case was solved. After the trial, beautiful,
(35:24):
they held up to their agreement. I held up to mine.
After that was done, I always bound and determined that's it.
I got what I did, what I wanted to do,
and I was not going to participate in any additional
broadcast which Oxygen Lawrence took over. I didn't participate in that,
(35:45):
so podcasts. I'm not familiar with it. Something told me
to go ahead and participate in it. So consider yourselves lucky.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
We are.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
We have to thank you from the bottom of our
hearts from being here. You got two new nieces and
learned to got a new cousin so or new two
cousins so well, we.
Speaker 6 (36:06):
Welcome both the ensa Ohanna.
Speaker 7 (36:09):
I'd like to say any of you come to Kawaii,
is what they said.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
Today's message of hope and healing goes out to the
memory of Santra Goddless in this story of absolute heartbreak.
We never want to lose sight of the person whose
light was lost way too soon to such tragedy.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Sandra was a beautiful, strong local girl with a strong
inner drive. Her father even said in grade school that
she had perfect attendance and was described as being a
teacher's pet. Also in high school, she ran track and
she danced.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Tula Sandy's Ohanna. Her family shared with us that she
was full of energy, she wanted to do everything all
at once, and she was a absolute go getter. Sandra
shined as a gymnast and she even had dreams of
becoming a journalist.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
One day after she separated from her husband, she became
an assistant food and beverage manager at the Grand Hyatt
on Kawhi, where her co workers said that she was
a great manager and she would give her.
Speaker 2 (37:22):
All to everyone. Sandra would never become the journalist that
she dreamt of being, but at the time of her death,
she was truly coming into her own. She ended up
getting married young, and she had two beautiful children, and
she was a devoted mother. She was just finding out
who she was meant to be.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
And so today we want to honor that bright light
that was Sandy. Onward and upward, Emua Emua.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
That's our show for today. We'd love to hear what
you thought about today's discussion and if there's a case
you'd like for us.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
To cover, find us on social media or email us
at facingevilpod at tenderfoot dot tv.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
And one small request, if you haven't already, please find
us on iTunes and give us a good rating and
a good review. If you like what we do, your
support is always cherished. Until next time.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Aloha.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Facing Evil is a production of iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV.
The show is hosted by Russia Paccuerero in a Vetchintila,
Matt Frederick and Alex Williams our executive producers on behalf
of iHeartRadio with producers Trevor Young and Jesse Funk, Donald
Albright in Pain Lindsay our executive producers on behalf of
(39:02):
Tenderfoot TV, alongside producer Tracy Kaplan. Our researcher is Carolyn Talmage.
Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Find us on
social media or email us at facingevilpod at tenderfoot dot tv.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
(39:26):
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