Defendant Tisse Henriksen listens to testimony through headphones during his attempted murder trial Wednesday. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
WAILUKU — A homeless man said he was trying to help his friend when he was slashed across the face and stabbed in a New Year’s Day attack that left him “weak” and “dizzy.”
Testifying Wednesday in the 2nd Circuit Court jury trial of Tisse Henriksen, Kalani Wright described the attack that occurred shortly after midnight Jan. 1, 2017, starting after Henriksen showed up on the lanai of the former Century 21 building at Puunene and Kaahumanu avenues in Kahului.
Wright and others had gathered there to watch New Year’s Eve fireworks at Kahului Harbor.
Henriksen, 55, of Kahului has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder of Wright.
In his opening statement Wednesday morning, Deputy Prosecutor Emlyn Higa said that before Henriksen made his way to the Century 21 building, he had argued with his girlfriend and tried to strangle her in her apartment at nearby Harbor Lights.
Victim Kalani Wright testifies Wednesday afternoon about the night he was stabbed four times during a scuffle with Tisse Henriksen on the porch of a former real estate office in Kahului early New Year’s Day 2017. The Maui News / CHRIS SUGIDONO photo
She fled in fear, Higa said, before Henriksen also left the apartment. Henriksen was heard “yelling angrily” and swearing at a passing motorist before he went up onto the Century 21 lanai, “basically trying to pick a fight” with an older man there, Higa said.
Wright said his cousin had told him that Henrikson had been coming around all week looking for money.
That night, Wright said he didn’t know who hit whom first — Henriksen or the other man. He said he decided to step in to help when he saw his friend on the ground.
Wright acknowledged that Henriksen didn’t start an argument with Wright, or shout at him, or threaten him. Wright didn’t remember how many times he hit Henriksen.
After being punched in the face, Henriksen pulled out a knife and swung it at Wright, causing a slash across his face that cut through the cartilage of his nose and “felt like his face was falling off,” Higa said.
Deborah Henriksen, wife of defendant Tisse Henriksen, testifies Wednesday in front of a photo showing her husband’s belongings, including the knife he used to stab a man. Since the incident on Jan. 1, 2017, the couple got married. The Maui News / CHRIS SUGIDONO photo
He said Wright also was stabbed in his upper left abdomen causing a wound that was stopped from penetrating his lung or another vital organ when it hit his rib. He was stabbed again so forcefully that a piece of his upper left arm was gouged out, Higa said.
Another wound under Wright’s arm chipped a bone in his shoulder, Higa said.
After he was stabbed, Wright walked a block or two to the canoe hale at Hoaloha Park and asked his grandmother to call 911.
“I was weak,” he said. “The whole time walking there, I was dizzy.”
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Cary Virtue, Wright said he was under the influence of methamphetamine that night.
He admitted to using methamphetamine every day, using money he earns working construction to buy the drug.
Virtue said Henriksen would testify to explain how he acted in self-defense that night after going to look for a friend and seeing a grocery cart that he thought might be his friend’s at the Century 21 building. After starting to go up the stairs to the lanai and being told to leave, Henriksen was backing up when he was hit in the head, Virtue said in his opening statement to jurors.
He said Henriksen suffers from seizures and takes medication.
“He felt he walked into an ambush, was mugged and had to defend himself,” Virtue said.
He said Wright was in the hospital for a couple of days.
“None of these wounds were even life threatening,” Virtue said.
Judge Peter Cahill is presiding over the trial, which was scheduled to resume today.
* Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com. Chris Sugidono can be reached at csugidono@mauinews.com.
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