Santa Cruz Lawyer Is Killed in Hawaii; Companion Who Leapt from Cliff Is Reported Suspect
A Santa Cruz deputy city attorney was found dead along a Maui cliff last week following a reported domestic dispute. Her companion, who leapt from a nearby cliff as police approached, is hospitalized and in custody.
Maui police refused to identify the woman, but news reports say she is Celestial Cassman, a lawyer with Atchison, Barisone, Condotti & Kovacevich, a law firm that provides city attorney services. The Maui News, KIONRightNow, the Lake County Record-Bee and the Santa Cruz Sentinel have stories.
Cassman’s body was found on a rocky cliff near Nakalele Point by police responding to a report of a domestic disturbance along a cliffside highway. Lt. Wayne Ibarra of the Maui Police Department tells the Santa Cruz Sentinel that the companion who jumped off the cliff is hospitalized and in police custody as a homicide suspect, though he has not been charged. The Record-Bee identified him as Gerald Galaway, 38, of Santa Cruz.
Cassman attended law school at the University of California at Davis and was a board member for Court Appointed Special Advocates.
