Jury convicts killer of a Gilbert war hero

May 14—Seventy-three-old Frank Bernal was living his retirement years tending to vegetables on his acre-plus lot about a mile from Gilbert Town Hall, playing golf and visiting with his extended family of 10 siblings.

But in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, Oct. 11, 2020, police found the highly decorated Vietnam War veteran with deep roots in Gilbert in his home clinging to life from a brutal beating. He died nine days later.

Earlier this month, a Superior Court jury took less than four hours to convict Jacob Kanakaholoki Samia, 35, of first-degree murder in Bernal's slaying. Samia, who has been incarcerated since his Oct. 26, 2020, arrest, faces sentencing June 22.

Samia was a 2006 Chandler High graduate who played varsity football.

"I hope the sentence will reflect the viciousness of his attack on Frank," said older brother Andy Bernal days after the jury's verdict on May 2. "There's not really any closure to any of this because it's been a nightmare for us for two and a half years.

"It's been a nightmare that doesn't go away and then sitting in that courtroom for 11 days hearing the details of what took place that night was even worst."

Police officers heard Frank moaning inside his home after they had followed an "obvious" blood trail that started less than half a mile away where Samia attempted to break into Kure CBD and Vape, smashing the glass door with his fists.

Sami had spent the night drinking with friends.

Unfazed and bloodied, Samia made his way east toward 131st Street toward Frank's home.

Samia, who is 6'3" and weighs 250 pounds, forced his way into the house through a back door, according to police. His blood was found on the back security door, another door and in a vehicle parked in the driveway.

"He said he was looking for a place to crash, for some place to sleep," said Andy, who sat through Samia's two days of testimony. "But he didn't go to the front door and ring the bell. He broke in through the back.

"After assaulting Frank he rummaged through the house because blood was throughout one bedroom and a bathroom," Andy continued. "He was looking for something."

Painful testimony, memories

Andy said it pained him to sit through the trial and that he felt Samia "seemed like he was enjoying the whole process."

"He was gloating about what he did," Andy said. "He took responsibility for breaking and entering. He felt ashamed for breaking into the vape shop but he never felt ashamed beating up a man almost 42 years older than him. He was almost enjoying the moment."

The police report said Frank was likely sleeping when he was awoken by Samia breaking through the door and was attacked in the living room.

"I didn't get to see Frank until the day after he got assaulted — the brutality and viciousness that Frank endured," Andy said. "When I saw him more than 24 hours later in the hospital, he was cleaned up.

"It was 2 a.m. and Frank was surprised. The body cam of the police officers showed how he was brutally beaten in the face and how he was strangled. The police did an excellent job with the body cam capturing everything and there's no denying the state of Frank.

"It was very difficult for us to watch it all."

Police said among the injuries the right side of Frank's face showed signs of a bite mark and his earlobe was partially severed.

Andy said Frank was in a coma, intubated. When the Chandler resident saw his brother in the hospital bed the following day, his thought was, "There's no way Frank's going to survive."

"It took us a few days before we decided to take him off the intubation," Andy said. "Once we took him off...he lasted 30-some hours in hospice, which all his family was there."

Frank was pronounced dead at 1:48 a.m., Oct. 20.

Heroic native son

Frank Saiz Bernal was born Jan. 3, 1947 at home.

The family's house was near Oak Street and Page Avenue, within walking distance of Gilbert's iconic Water Tower in the Heritage District

"It's now a parking lot," Andy said.

Frank was part of a large pioneering family in Arizona, residing and thriving in the East Valley for well over 150 years and in the state since 1725, according to the family.

Frank went to Gilbert Public Schools and excelled in the classroom and in sports. He played baseball, footfall, basketball and ran track.

He lettered in baseball and football, winning All-State in 1964 and MVP, according to his obituary.

Frank continued to be an outstanding athlete while attending Phoenix Community College and is on the record books for excelling in baseball.

He was getting offers from different universities but Uncle Sam came knocking and he was drafted in February 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Six months later he was deployed to the Southeast Asian country.

Shortly upon arrival, Frank and 11 of his fellow infantrymen were ambushed — seven were killed while Frank and three others were severely wounded, according to his family.

Even though Frank was badly injured, he returned accurate fire to the enemy, according to his Army citation.

He came home with the nerves in his left leg severed, hampering his ability to walk normally for the remainder of his life.

For his service, he was awarded the Purple Heart, a Combat Infantry Badge and the Army Commendation medal.

'A 'generous man'

Frank soon went to Arizona State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business. He later worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for over 25 years, helping underserved people in rural communities in Arizona with community development, affordable housing and water and waste control infrastructure development.

Andy said that it was difficult to hone in on just one fond memory of Frank.

"He was a very generous man," he said. "People in Gilbert knew him because he was a great athlete but we knew him as our brother. He was more than a great athlete.

"He was a great person, a man of good will. He didn't talk evil or had malice toward anyone."

The jury also found Samia guilty of three other charges, including burglary in the second degree and kidnapping.

For all four charges, the jury also unanimously agreed beyond a reasonable doubt on aggravating factors, including Frank's age and that the crime was "committed in a brutal, vicious or violent manner."

"The thing that bothers me the most is he survived an ambush in Vietnam in September 1968 but he didn't survive an ambush in his own home," Andy said. "That's really difficult to reconcile with him."