HONOLULU, HI — On the afternoon of December 24, 1991, the Hawaiʻi County Police Department (HCPD) received a report of a damaged bicycle on a rural road on the east side of the Big Island. A little while later, a badly injured young woman—23-year-old vacationer Dana Ireland of Virginia—was found on a deserted fishing trail. She was nude from the waist down, had been sexually assaulted, and died the following day.
DNA recovered from Ms. Ireland’s body identifies the man who actually kidnapped, raped, and murdered her as Albert Lauro, Jr., of Paradise Park on the Big Island. But instead of following the evidence and apprehending Mr. Lauro—who died in 2024— investigators have focused their attention on Ian and Shawn Schweitzer, even after framing them for the crime using false evidence and causing their wrongful convictions and imprisonment.
Yesterday, the Schweitzer brothers, who were both exonerated by Hawaiʻi courts in 2023, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaiʻi, seeking justice for violations of their constitutional and state law rights which, they allege, caused their wrongful convictions.
“Shawn and Ian Schweitzer were just 16 and 20 years old when they were persecuted for a horrific crime they had nothing to do with,” says attorney Steve Art of the civil rights law firm of Loevy + Loevy. “Under pressure to close a high-profile case, the defendants fabricated a case against these two innocent men. In so doing, they let the real killer and rapist run free. Today, we are demanding accountability from Hawaiʻi County.”
The Ireland case remained unsolved for several years, during which time—according to the complaint filed yesterday—police faced intense pressure to close it, both from the community and from the Ireland family. The complaint alleges that this is part of what motivated detectives to conspire to falsely implicate the Schweitzer brothers.
Hawaiʻi County officials named in the lawsuit claimed that they got a “break” in the case when they were approached by a man named John Gonsalves, who was then facing decades in prison for drug crimes, and his half-brother Frank Pauline, Jr., who was in prison for sexual assault. Gonsalves—a neighbor of the Schweitzers who had a grudge against them—supposedly told investigators that Pauline had been present at Ireland’s murder and would implicate the Schweitzer brothers.
Over the following years, the complaint alleges, Hawaiʻi County investigators manipulated Gonsalves and Pauline, offering them favors and special privileges as law enforcement fabricated a story that would implicate the Schweitzers. When that story would not hold up, the investigators fabricated accounts for numerous jailhouse informants to falsely implicated the brothers. Throughout the Schweitzer brothers’ ordeal, the suit alleges, the Hawaiʻi County investigators named in the lawsuit suppressed favorable evidence that would have shown their innocence.
Ian and Shawn Schweitzer were prosecuted and convicted of Ms. Ireland’s rape and murder based on the evidence fabricated by the defendants named in lawsuit. Facing life in prison, Shawn was forced to take a plea deal. Meanwhile, Ian, who was blamed as the primary perpetrator, was convicted and spent the next 23 years behind bars, never knowing if he would get out.
“My brother and I were framed for a terrible rape and murder we had nothing to do with,” says Shawn Schweitzer. “Ian spent more than 20 years in prison, and our entire family had to deal with the fallout from police lies that exploded our lives. None of us have ever been the same, and nothing can ever make up for the damage this caused.”
The Schweitzer brothers never gave up hope. They fought long and hard to prove their innocence and to clear their names. Finally, in 2023, both brothers were exonerated, their convictions vacated, and Ian walked out of prison a free man for the first time in a quarter century.
The Schweitzer brothers are innocent of Ms. Ireland’s rape and murder. All along, all of the forensic evidence from the crime scene showed that they were not involved. The DNA recovered from Ireland’s body showed that the crime had been committed by a different person.
Following the Schweitzer brothers’ exoneration, police revealed publicly for the first time that the perpetrator was 57-year-old Albert Lauro, Jr. Lauro lived less than two miles from the crime scene, and—an avid fisherman—he was familiar with the trail where Dana Ireland’s body was found. He also drove a pickup truck like the one described by witnesses. Most importantly, the DNA found on Ireland’s body conclusively linked to Mr. Lauro.
“My family and the Ireland family are all victims of this terrible injustice” says Ian Schweitzer. “My brother and I have been clear since day one that we had nothing to do with this terrible crime. For all of our sakes, the real perpetrator should have been arrested, the Ireland family should have gotten justice, and me and my family should have been left to live our lives in peace.”
Unfortunately, instead of arresting Lauro for the Ireland murder, Hawaiʻi County investigators let him go free. Instead of apprehending him when DNA conclusively tied him to the scene, they refused to take him into custody. As a result, last year, Lauro took his own life before he could be brought to justice.
“Investigators in Hawaii County, by manufacturing evidence against our clients, not only failed the Schweitzer family, but failed everyone involved in this case,” says attorney David B. Owens, of Loevy + Loevy. “They failed the people of Hawaiʻi, by letting a killer and rapist go free for 33 years. They failed Dana Ireland and her family, by denying them justice, and by failing to apprehend the real killer, who has now ended his life. These failures were egregious and tragic.”
The lawsuit names as defendants Detectives Steven Guillermo and Paul Ferreira, Lt. Francis Rodillas, Capt. Raymon Simao, Police Chief Benjamin T. Moszkowicz, and Deputy Police Chief Reed K. Mahuna of the HCPD; investigator William Perreira of the County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office; and the County of Hawaiʻi. The suit charges them with multiple violations of the Schweitzer Brothers’ rights, including malicious prosecution, violations of due process, infliction of emotional distress, and conspiracy.
Ian and Shawn Schweitzer are represented by attorneys Steve Art, David B. Owens, and Israa Alzamli of Loevy + Loevy.
###
A copy of the complaint can be found here.