From the Associated Press
A California man charged with murdering his female traveling companion while they vacationed on Maui has pleaded not guilty.
Gerald Galaway Jr., 38, of Santa Cruz, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree attempted sexual assault and kidnapping at his arraignment Tuesday.
The body of Celestial Cassman, 35, also of Santa Cruz, was found Sept. 1 near Nakalele Point after witnesses reported seeing her struggling with a man. When police arrived, the man took off running and jumped off a 100-foot cliff into the ocean. Police rescued Galaway from a reef the following morning.
He was hospitalized until Monday.
A jury trial date has been set for Dec. 5. Galaway is being held without bail. His attorney William Sloper did not request a bail hearing.
An autopsy determined Cassman died of asphyxiation.
Cassman was a deputy city attorney for Capitola, Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay, the Santa Cruz Sentinal reported.
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