Oahu man dodges bullets after turning down alleged hit during Miske saga

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - It sounds like the plot of a crime drama: An organized crime boss orders a hit on a man in order to get revenge for the death of his son.

But federal prosecutors investigating Mike Miske, the alleged leader of what they describe as a sprawling criminal enterprise, say that’s exactly what happened.

And Lindsey Kinney says he was caught in the middle of it.

Kinney says in 2016, he was offered $50,000 to kill a young man named Johnathan Fraser but he turned it down. “They approached me when they were in the hospital, saying Mike Miske wants to hire me to kill Johnny Fraser,” Kinney said.

Kinney said that decision — to deny Miske’s request — put his own life in danger.

In 2017, he said, Norman L. Akau III told him Miske wanted to fight him near Kualoa Ranch. But when Kinney showed up, he narrowly escaped gunfire.

“First shot went right past my head while I was running and I’m pretty sure I heard two other smaller calibers,” said Kinney.

Kinney said Miske’s motive to kill him was no secret.

“I was a loose end,” he said.

Months after Kinney said he turned down Miske’s request to kill Fraser, the 21-year-old vanished. Fraser was the sole survivor of a Kaneohe car crash the year before, in which Miske’s son, Caleb, died.

Kinney said after the crash, Miske started plotting Fraser’s murder.

Kinney said he lives with regret knowing he could have saved Fraser’s life.

“When they offered me that money, what I should have done was go to that hospital and grab that boy. I know I could have saved him. That’s the only thing I did wrong. That’s the only weight I get on my shoulders.”

Kinney said Miske also offered him $20,000 to remain silent, but he turned that down as well.

Kinney said he wants people to know the truth about what happened and wants the right people to be held accountable.

“Right is right, wrong is wrong,” he said. “I wanna see these guys go down.”

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