Hawaii, with its flower-scented breezes and gently swaying palms, can be Heaven on earth. On Christmas Eve 1991 however, it became a place of dark evil, when a beautiful and vibrant 23-year-old woman named Dana Ireland was kidnapped by three strangers, raped, savagely beaten and left to die in the early hours of Christmas morning.

The investigation of the young woman's murder dragged on for nearly a decade and sparked one of the longest and most intensive manhunts in the island's history. From the beginning, local investigators were hampered by scarce manpower, money and forensic capabilities. More than seven years after the murder, police were still gathering evidence and making arrests in a case that had the public impatient for a resolution.

When 21-year-old Frank Pauline confessed to the murder in May of 1994, he implicated two other people in the attack: brothers Shawn and Ian Schweitzer. But there were problems with Frank's confession from the beginning and there was no physical evidence linking the three men to the murder scene.

The trial that followed was labelled "Hawaii's OJ" and to this day remains the most shocking trial ever held in Hawaii. Prosecutors presented their case of circumstantial evidence and Frank's taped confession. On the stand, Frank recanted and said the motive behind his confession was to help his imprisoned brother knock off time on a narcotics charge. The defence brought in forensic scientist Edward Blake to testify about how sperm samples on Dana's hospital gurney failed to match that of Frank or the Schweitzer brothers. After 15 hours of heated deliberation, a jury convicted Frank and he was sentenced to life in prison. He maintains his innocence to this day.

In January of 2000, Ian Schweitzer went on trial for the Dana Ireland attack. A man who had served time with Ian, while he was awaiting trial, testified that Ian had confessed, and prosecutors linked the Volkswagen they believed was used in Dana’s attack to the Schweitzer brothers. After 6 hours of deliberation, Ian Schweitzer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Not long after, Shawn Schweitzer, after seeing how easily his brother had been convicted, pleaded guilty to reduced charges. As part of his agreement with prosecutors, Shawn confessed to witnessing the rape and murder of Dana and gave details that further implicated both his brother and Frank. Shawn Schweitzer walked out of the courthouse following his sentencing to five years probation.

Even although the trials were fairly straightforward and the men's appeals denied, unanswered questions still plague the Dana Ireland murder case: none of the DNA found at the scene matched any of the defendants, and both Frank Pauline and Ian Schweitzer continue to protest their convictions from behind bars. Edward Blake, the nationally known forensic scientist who testified for the defence at the trials, still vehemently believes the men were wrongfully imprisoned.

Is Dana Ireland's killer still lurking around the beautiful island?