Suspect in 1977 killing agrees to be extradited from Utah to Hawaii to face murder charge

A 66-year-old suspect in the 1977 slaying of a Hawaii teenager agreed on Wednesday to be extradited from Utah to face a murder charge.

Gideon Castro waived the right to challenge his extradition during a hearing before a judge in Salt Lake City. Castro, who is ill, appeared by video from a hospital bed.

“He intends to fight the charges. But he agrees to be extradited to fight the charges in Hawaii,” said defense attorney Marlene Mohn.

On March 21, 1977, shortly after 7:30 a.m., Honolulu police found the body of 16-year-old Dawn Momohara on the second floor of a school building. She was lying on her back, partially clothed with an orange cloth wrapped tightly around her neck and had been sexually assaulted and strangled, police said.

Police used advances in DNA technology to connect Castro to the killing. They had interviewed Castro and his brother in 1977. But they were unable to conclusively link Castro to the killing until obtaining DNA samples in recent years.

He was arrested last month at the nursing home where he had been living in Millcreek, just south of Salt Lake City, on a fugitive warrant for suspicion of second-degree murder. Jail records indicate he is still a resident of Hawaii, and it is unclear how long he had been living in Utah.