December 31, 2020
George Yutaka Shimabuku, who served more time than any other inmate in the Hawaii prison system, has finally completed his long sentence. Convicted of a homicide before statehood, Shimabuku died this month at age 84 after being transferred to an Arizona hospital from the Saguaro Correctional Center.
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Shimabuku was originally convicted of manslaughter for a 1958 stabbing outside the former Pink Elephant Bar on North Beretania Street, and in the years that followed was twice found guilty of first-degree murder in two separate shootings.
He was sentenced to two life terms without possibility of parole in those cases, and was imprisoned continuously in state or federal correctional facilities for more than 56 years, from 1964 until he died on Dec. 4.