'The Other Side of Paradise' with Lynn Kawano

It's a 40-year-old murder mystery.

Diane Suzuki, 19, disappeared on July 6, 1985, in broad daylight, at a busy place in Central Oahu.
Her attacker had less than 15 minutes to commit the crime and hide her body.

In this episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," Lynn Kawano revisits the case from the day she went missing to the failed grand jury proceedings eight years later.

The HNN investigative reporter talks to the man Suzuki was planning her life with, and explains why law enforcement won't open the files to clarify rumors that have swirled for decades.

Listen for exclusive bonus content not available anywhere else.

In this episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," we talk to the former assistant director of HSI's Honolulu office. John Tobon is a founding member of the agency, which started after the 9-11 attacks. He was at the World Trade Center when the planes hit on that day, working for U.S. Customs. Tobon describes his escape, talks about some of the international drug lords he arrested and why  he is choosing to stay in Hawaii post-retirement.

Outrage over a proposed $1.5 million settlement for a wrongful death lawsuit could cost taxpayers millions, legal experts say.The family of a South African rugby star, Lindani Myeni, is suing the city and the officers who shot Myeni, killing him in 2021.

The officers were also injured by Myeni during the incident.Honolulu police, the mayor, and city prosecutor were among many who opposed a settlement. Their testimony convinced the Honolulu council to reject the deal, opting instead to go to trial.In this podcast, Lynn Kawano gives us both sides of the battle, including why city attorneys pushed to settle, why they were met with strong resistance, and the unexpected potential impacts on the officers involved.

The man behind the DNA discovery in the Dana Ireland case said Hawaii County police had enough to arrest the suspect on July 19. Instead, Albert Lauro, Jr., was released and committed suicide four days later. Stephen Kramer, a former federal prosecutor and the man who co-founded the FBI’s forensic genealogy team, said a DNA match from the national database CODIS was enough probable cause to arrest Lauro for Ireland’s 1991 murder.

Over the last two years, dozens of Oahu drivers have been arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence with breathalyzer results of 0.00 — meaning no alcohol showed as present in their system, HNN Investigates has found.

In the latest episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," Lynn Kawano speaks to a driver who was arrested despite being sober and gets a new response from HPD to her exclusive investigation.

After nearly two days of deliberation, a federal jury returned a not guilty verdict in the sprawling bribery case against Keith Kaneshiro, Honolulu’s longest-serving prosecutor.

In the latest episode of "The Other Side of Paradise," Lynn Kawano talks to the jury foreman in the case, who said while he knew there was "something wrong," the evidence presented didn't back up the government's allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Every year, thousands of Hawaii residents leave the islands for opportunities and economic relief on the continent. Many end up in Las Vegas, now home away from home for a considerable contingent of Hawaii transplants, including Native Hawaiians. In “Priced Out of Paradise,” HNN investigative reporter Lynn Kawano puts a fresh spotlight on the thriving Hawaii community she found in the Ninth Island.

First responders are being called to overdoses daily in Hawaii as fentanyl takes hold across the state. And stopping the drug pipeline won’t be easy, experts say.

To understand the crisis, HNN Investigates traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a new series exploring the heavy toll of fentanyl in the islands. Anthony Chrysanthis, the deputy special agent in charge of the DEA’s Los Angeles field office, said just about all of the fentanyl and methamphetamine in Hawaii are made in clandestine labs in Mexico run by the cartels.

HNN Investigative Reporter Lynn Kawano takes you behind the scenes of a story that's rocked Hawaii's football community: Two former Hawaii football players making headlines as college starters have agreed to settle a civil lawsuit stemming from a criminal, sex assault case that was handled in juvenile court.

Jayden de Laura, the starting quarterback at the University of Arizona and Kamoi Latu, the starting safety at the University of Wisconsin, agreed to pay a woman who said she was raped by the players on October 27, 2018, after the St. Louis Crusaders beat Punahou in the ILH championship game.

The girl was 16 years old at the time. Both boys were underage, too.

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve 1991, 23-year-old Dana Ireland left her parents’ home in Puna for a bike ride and never returned.

Good Samaritans called 911 after finding her mangled bicycle, a shoe, and clumps of hair ― but no rider.

Thirty minutes later and five miles away, Ireland was found in the bushes of a fishing trail, nude from the waist down and barely conscious. She died at the hospital from blood loss and multiple traumatic injuries.

A decade later, three Hawaii Island men would be convicted for her murder, the shocking details of which reverberated around the entire state. But the story doesn’t end there: An exoneration based in large part on advances in DNA technology turned the Dana Ireland murder into a cold case rather than a solved one.