Dismissal of Maui murder case in 2000 brings pain and relief

HONOLULU (KHON2) – A man jailed for years awaiting trial for the Maui murder is about to be set free after a judge dismissed the case against him. The relatives of the woman who was killed 23 years ago said that they still demand justice. It’s a story of ‘always checking’.

In 2000, Kimberly Belluomini was killed in her Maui home. It took nearly two decades to make an arrest in that case, and prosecutors convicted Anthony Moreno, who has been awaiting trial since 2019. Today the case was dismissed.

“It was one of the judge’s findings that whatever evidence they had and that they needed was essentially back in 2001,” explained defense attorney Matthew Nardi. “And then because of the delay, there were at least five or six different witnesses, all of whom the judge found very beneficial to the defense and passed since showing Mr. Moreno’s innocence.”

The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors would not be allowed to indict or refile. He shall have the sole recourse to appeal against the dismissal to the High Court.

“We’re going to come back to this over the next few weeks,” said Andrew Martin, the Maui County prosecutor who argued the case, “to start looking at our options for an appeal, and then of course, sit down with the family.” And talk with them about what that would mean and it’s something that they want to pursue as well.

It’s a remarkable turn in a high-profile murder case.

“It is not very frequent or common that murder cases are dismissed, especially ones dismissed with prejudice, often not in Hawaii or elsewhere,” said defense attorney Gina Gormley.

The victim’s brother told KHON2 he is upset that the family will not get justice, a sentiment defense attorneys also said they understand.

Gormley said, “It’s as if he’s had to mourn it, mourn the death of a member of his family a second time or maybe even a third time, and it’s really sad,” and yet hasn’t been able to know. That’s really what happened, I think is very unfortunate for the family.

But for the man who will no longer stand trial originally scheduled for next week, justice was served.

Nardi said of Moreno, “He was overwhelmed with joy.” “When the judge announced the verdict, he immediately started crying. And he was really excited after being in prison for three years, unable to even communicate.

So the question is where is the killer?

“I think we have the right guy,” Martin said. “Looking at the facts and circumstances surrounding the case, in its totality, we had DNA evidence. Obviously, there was another principle of defense, a somewhat different principle. But from the outset, both I and the detective who took over the case in late 2017 felt very strongly that Mr. Moreno was responsible.

The Maui Police Department declined to comment.