Hawaii military faces scrutiny after series of spousal murders

A Marine was sentenced to 26 years for murdering his wife on base as the Army investigates another spouse found dead on Schofield Barracks weeks earlier.

Wives are sounding the alarm about the violence and lack of information being provided to the community by military leadership.

Staff Sgt. Alonzo Alcantara was sentenced on Sept. 30, 2025, for the murder of his wife, Ruby Tenorio Alcantara, who died just over a year prior, on Sept. 1, 2024.

Alcantara admitted in court to using a rear-naked chokehold, a martial arts technique taught by the Marines, to kill his wife during an argument about finances and his legal troubles.

But the autopsy report that HNN Investigates obtained shows she had a lot more injuries, indicating Alcantara did more that just a chokehold.

The couple’s 8-year-old son witnessed the violence, it was revealed in court, and their younger child was also in the home at the time.

The Alcantara children are now living with family members who are struggling to pay the bills. There is a GoFundMe set up to help.

Crime, corruption, scandal ... You won't find it in the travel brochures or on the postcards, but life in Hawaii isn't always paradise. In this podcast from Hawaii News Now Chief Investigative Reporter Lynn Kawano, we take you behind the headlines that the visitor bureaus don't advertise and delve into the stories that keep us talking (and up at night).