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The deadly shooting of 33-year-old Theresa Cachuela by her estranged husband days before Christmas shocked Hawaii and left friends and family members mourning. 

But the killing has also shed light on deficiencies in systems designed to protect victims of domestic violence from their abusers.

Cachuela obtained a temporary restraining order against her husband, Jason Cachuela, two weeks before the shooting. Loved ones say the legal document did nothing to shield her. 

While thousands of temporary restraining orders and protective orders are granted each year in district courts around Hawaii, advocates say they aren’t always strong enough to sufficiently protect victims.

Steps must be taken to strengthen the orders themselves as well as enhance alternative security measures, such as creating safety plans for those trying to leave abusive relationships, relocating victims and children away from abusers and tightening gun laws, advocates say.

“It’s not a bulletproof vest,” Monique Ibarra, CEO of , said of protective orders. “They do have their mechanisms to attempt to keep victims of domestic violence safe, but they’re certainly not all-inclusive.” 

Are Protective Orders Effective?

Between 2016 and 2022, an average of 2,820 temporary restraining orders and 5,069 domestic abuse protective orders were filed each year, from the Hawaii State Judiciary.

The orders in most cases legally bar accused abusers from contacting, visiting or getting near their victims. They also require the suspect to surrender their firearms. Victims often apply first for temporary restraining orders, which can be issued quickly and remain in effect until a hearing at which the TRO can be extended or a protective order can be issued.

In Theresa Cachuela’s case, she applied for and was granted a temporary restraining order on Dec. 8. Honolulu police served the order to Jason Cachuela on Dec. 11 and of his registered firearms, according to a statement from police. 

After a hearing on Dec. 20, Family Court Judge Lesley Maloian approved an order of protection that was set to last until Dec. 20, 2024, according to court records.  

The order prohibited Jason Cachuela from contacting Theresa, passing within 100 feet of her or getting within 100 yards of her home or workplace. It also warned that possessing a gun while the order was in effect would be punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.

But two days later, Jason Cachuela used a gun to kill Theresa at Pearlridge Center and later killed himself behind a Waipahu residence, police said. 

Key questions advocates say they hope will be revealed by the investigation are how Jason Cachuela had a gun despite the protection order and whether police had contact with him in the days leading up to the shooting.

The Attorney General’s Office referred questions about the case to the Honolulu Police Department. Honolulu police spokeswoman Sarah Yoro declined to answer questions about the gun, citing the ongoing investigation.

This story has been updated with a statement from Jason Cachuela’s lawyer

Michael Green, an attorney who had been representing Jason Cachuela, said he saw his client the day before the shooting, and he appeared calm. He was scheduled to have visitation with his daughter that weekend through Christmas Eve.

“I never saw this coming,” Green said. “We had what I consider to be a very reasonable hearing in family court.”

He is now representing Jason Cachuela’s parents, who are attempting to get custody of their grandchild.

“It’s not a bulletproof vest.” 

Monique Ibarra of the Domestic Violence Action Center

Advocates also raised concerns about the overall effectiveness of temporary restraining orders and protective orders when they can be so easily violated. 

“TRO violations, we have them every day here,” said Tiffany Kaeo, chief of the Family Prosecution Division of the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office. 

Most frequently, the violations are in the form of the suspected abuser texting or calling the victim, she said. But abusers may also show up at the victim’s house or attempt to contact them physically. 

Some protective orders also have weaknesses that can make them less effective, Ibarra said. For example, they often don’t cover the children of an abusive relationship. 

“Many times the children are taken off the restraining order because there’s a belief that the abuser is abusing the victim, and the children aren’t necessarily getting victimized or aren’t getting abused,” she said. “But in fact, the children, most likely, are also feeling the effects of the domestic violence against their parent, and so, their safety should be considered as well.” 

In the case of Theresa Cachuela’s protective order, her husband was allowed to have contact with one of their children via phone. He also could see the child on Sundays and when there was no school, according to the order.

Ibarra said temporary restraining orders and protective orders “more often than not” are successful at keeping abusers away from their victims, but every situation is different. 

“Some individuals, no matter what, are going to do the ultimate harm,” she said, “which is actually the ultimate form of control over their victim, and that is to end their life.” 

‘A Piece Of Paper’

Holly Cano, a survivor of abuse who has worked at various agencies advocating for domestic violence victims, said she believes, in many cases, filing for a temporary restraining order actually worsens a situation because it can make an abuser feel like they’re losing control. 

“When the power and control is that strong in their heads and they’re that enraged, serving them that piece of paper — where is the logic in thinking he’s going to read it and go, ‘Oh shucks, oh well. I lose,’” she said. “Something else has got to be put in place.”

In a handwritten application for the initial TRO Theresa Cachuela submitted to the court on Dec. 8, she wrote that Jason Cachuela had threatened to kill himself and had once held a knife to his throat in front of her. He texted her pictures of ropes hanging from trees, showed up at her house unannounced and, just days before she submitted the application, had broken into her garage and hidden under her car, the application says. 

She also wrote that he had guns at his residence

“I am doing this to protect myself, my children and to hopefully get him the help he needs,” she wrote on the application. 

Threatening suicide is a major risk factor for lethality in an abusive relationship, as is , Ibarra said. 

With all the warning signs of threatening and controlling behavior and knowledge of Jason Cachuela access to weapons, Cano said she thinks authorities should have taken more drastic action, such as relocating Theresa and her children to a different location. It’s unclear if that was considered as an option in her case. 

Cano said she was speaking from experience.

In 2001, the Hawaii County Prosecutor’s Office relocated her and her children from the Big Island to Oahu when the man whom she’d been in an abusive relationship with was about to be released from jail, she said.

Even though it was difficult to uproot her and her children’s lives, she said moving away put distance between herself and him during a period where anger and tensions were high. 

“I’m not saying go ahead and relocate every victim of domestic violence, that’s not realistic,” she said. “But when guns are involved, when the severity is at its high, then you have to. To save a life, you have to.”

‘She Should Still Be Alive’

A member of Theresa Cachuela’s family declined an interview with Civil Beat and said they were handling funeral arrangements. But in the days after her killing, family members told TV stations that they believed her death could have been prevented if her protective order had .

“My daughter did not deserve this,” Cachuela’s mother, Lucita Ani-Nihoa, wrote on a GoFundMe set up by the family to raise money for funeral expenses. “She was , but the Justice system failed her.”

Ibarra said facts revealed by the investigation into Theresa’s killing will help inform policies around how to better handle such cases.

“I think there’s a lot of questions that still need to be answered regarding what happened in this case, because that would help us to know what we need to do to improve the system for safety for everyone,” she said.