Statement Regarding the Death of Defendant Michael J. Miske

News Release from U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Hawaii, Tuesday, December 3, 2024

HONOLULU – On December 1, 2024, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that Defendant Michael J. Miske had been found unresponsive and was later pronounced deceased. The United States Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation responded, and the Chief Medical Examiner of the City and County of Honolulu conducted an autopsy and is continuing to examine the cause of death, which examination remains ongoing. Presently, there is no finding of foul play or suicide.

On July 18, 2024, a federal jury convicted Miske after a seven-month trial of 13 counts of criminal conduct, including a racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping resulting in death, chemical weapons offenses, and obstruction of justice. The jury also determined in a subsequent criminal forfeiture proceeding that Miske must forfeit assets estimated to exceed $20 million. Miske’s sentencing hearing, originally scheduled for November 26, 2024, was continued to January 30, 2025. Miske was facing a mandatory minimum term of life in prison.

According to United States Attorney Clare E. Connors: “Michael Miske’s death was unexpected and may terminate some of the ongoing criminal proceedings. The United States spent years investigating Miske’s large-scale criminal enterprise and then years preparing for one of the most grueling trials in this office’s history. Justice was served in the process but aspects of the case remain unfinished. In particular, we are committed to pursuing recovery of the assets found forfeitable by a federal criminal jury and will file pleadings in court as necessary and appropriate.”

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Inciong, Michael Nammar, KeAupuni Akina and Aislinn Affinito prosecuted the underlying criminal case. Akina and Affinito prosecuted the subsequent criminal forfeiture proceeding, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Craig Nolan and Sydney Spector.

COVERAGE:

SA: Local crime boss’s cause of death still a mystery | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

KHON: Miske’s death may terminate some criminal proceedings | KHON2

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Breaking: Mike Miske found dead at Honolulu’s Federal Detention Center

ILind: … it has apparently now been confirmed and reported by Hawaii News Now. Before it became public, the news had been spreading rapidly among those Miske’s criminal enterprise had impacted, including family and friends of Jonathan Fraser.

Miske was convicted by a federal jury in July on 13 of 16 charges, including murder for hire, murder in aid of racketeering, and kidnapping for the murder of Fraser, who Miske wrongly blamed for the death of his son, Caleb Miske. The jury also found that more than $20 million of assets should be forfeited to the federal government.

Miske was scheduled to be sentenced early next year. Several charges carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison…

read … Mike Miske found dead at Honolulu’s Federal Detention Center

SA: Fraser was last seen July 30, 2016, and his body has not been recovered.  (One last insult: Miske suicide without revealing location of Frasier's body.)

KHON: What does Miske's death mean for co-conspirators, victims?

KITV: The Federal Bureau of Prisons Federal Detention Center confirmed that at approximately 9:15 a.m., Michael Miske was found unresponsive at the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Honolulu.

KHON: Honolulu EMS initially responded to the medical emergency call at 9:18 a.m. and was there for nearly an hour.  The medical examiner’s staff took over after that.

HNN: Multiple law enforcement sources confirm he died in an apparent suicide.

SA: Sources have confirmed with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser as of noon, but his cause of death has not been confirmed.

CB: Miske was found dead on Sunday morning in the Federal Detention Center where he had been incarcerated for more than four years