HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A relative of the victim in a case charged as murder has asked the Office of the Attorney General to drop charges against a suspect accused in a fatal stabbing.
Isaac Gurtamag appeared in the Superior Court of Guam on Thursday morning for a status hearing in a case where he is charged in connection to the December 2023 death of Mike Tithin in Mangilao.
During the hearing, both Gurtamag’s attorney, William Bischoff from the Public Defender Service Corp., and Assistant Attorney General Christine Tenorio stated there was a request from Tithin’s relative to drop murder charges against Gurtamag.
Tenorio however, stated it was a serious case.
“Notwithstanding that a relative of the decedent may want to drop the charges, this is a serious case. It does involve murder,” Tenorio said before saying that her colleague, Sean Brown, the assigned prosecutor for Gurtamag’s case, still needs to speak with the Public Defender’s Office.
“Mr. Brown was just waiting to see if (the) Public Defender would remain on the case before he starts trying to speak with (an attorney) to figure out a path to either resolution or trial,” Tenorio added.
Bischoff responded his office had represented Tithin in past cases from a decade ago.
Judge Vernon Perez then said he presumed the Public Defender will stay on the case and scheduled for Gurtamag to appear in court next on May 30.
Stabbing
Gurtamag’s charges stem from an investigation launched by the Guam Police Department on Dec. 23, 2023, when officers responded to an expired person call at a Mangilao residence.
According to court documents, police arrived to find a deceased man with a stab wound. The man was later identified as Mike Tithin. The body was cold, and rigor mortis had set in, officers reported.
During the investigation, GPD met a witness who said Gurtamag was the last person to be with Tithin. Gurtamag was later located and interviewed. Gurtamag said he was the last one with Tithin at the Mangilao residence when Tithin became angry at Gurtamag. Gurtamag, in response, told Tithin to sleep it off, charging documents state.
The next day, when Gurtamag woke up, Tithin was gone, but a woman informed police that Gurtamag said he and Tithin were in an argument when “Tithin threatened to shoot” Gurtamag, who allegedly, in response, “retrieved a knife to defend against Tithin’s threats,” the complaint stated.
The woman further stated she saw Gurtamag “carrying a long object, walking immediately after Tithin.”
“(The woman) also informed police that (the) defendant got into a vehicle and pursued Tithin. (The woman) indicated to police that (the) defendant did not know if he stabbed Tithin,” the complaint stated.
Officers later learned Tithin and Gurtamag were cousins and that Tithin had damaged Gurtamag’s car in the past.
Isaac Gurtamag
