The Kauai Police Department have made an arrest in a cold case.
Darren Galas, 40 of Kalaheo was arrested for the 2006 murder of his estranged wife, Sandra Galas.
On January 25, 2006, Sandra Mendonca Galas, 27, was found dead in her car parked inside the garage of her ‘Ele’ele home. An autopsy revealed Sandra, the mother of two young boys 3 and 5, was brutally strangled. Since 2006, the Kauai Police Department followed up on leads, submitted items for forensic testing, and conducted dozens of witness interviews to gather the evidence needed to bring charges against Sandra’s killer. During that time, Sandra’s murder led her father, Larry Mendonca, to begin working to help young women better protect themselves. In 2007, Mendonca partnered with the YWCA Kauai to begin hosting the annual Never Forget Sandy G Golf Tournament. Money raised from the events was used to help abused women and children.
In 2011, the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney and Kauai Police Department began an intensive and collaborative effort to utilize the latest investigative techniques and technology to solve Sandra’s murder. This partnership led to the establishment of Ke Ahi Pio’ole, translated as "the fire that never burns out," Hawai’i's first Prosecutor-Directed Cold Case Murder Unit – which was made possible by nearly $100,000 in grant funding from the Attorney General’s Office.
Galas is currently in custody with bail set at $1,000,000.00.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
