Murder charges expected today in Kahealani case

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Murder charges are expected today in the homicide investigation of 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal, who was tentatively identified as the dead girl found Friday near a popular 'Aiea hiking trail.

At a memorial on Kamehameha Highway, Lehua Tumbaga, mother of Kahealani Indreginal, is comforted by Tangina Ua. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Family members confirmed yesterday that Aki is the fiancé of Kahealani's 18-year-old stepsister, Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga.

Aki agreed to be questioned by police Friday and went voluntarily to the main police station. He was arrested for second-degree murder at 8:40 p.m.

Hicks, who is known to Career Criminal Unit detectives, was found sleeping under a bridge at Blaisdell Park in Pearl City and arrested shortly after midnight yesterday.

Police were trying to find a third man yesterday for questioning.

A car believed to have been used in the abduction has been impounded.

The body of a young girl, believed to be Kahealani, was discovered Friday by a hiker in the brush along the 'Aiea Loop Trail.

Police have not officially identified the body. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow, with results expected the same day.

Police announced the arrests yesterday morning at a press conference called, in part, to calm fears in the community.

"We want to assure the public that there is not some crazy fiend out there abducting children," said Maj. Darryl Perry, head of the Criminal Investigation Division.

"I would like to assure everyone that we will be relentless and uncompromising in our pursuit of the truth in this murder investigation so that there is closure for the family and justice for Kahealani."

Both men were being held in the police cellblock at the main station.

Lt. Bill Kato said the girl was found fully clothed and there was no evidence of any sexual assault.

He said the motive in the crime was always believed to be robbery and police believe that the target was Kahealani's gold Hawaiian bracelets. She always wore four or five of them to school.

"We're confident that this was strictly a robbery," Kato said. "This had nothing to do with abducting a child. They saw an easy mark and they took her."

Kato said the bracelets had not been recovered and officers were trying to learn if they had been sold to pawnshops.

Tips from the residents in the Pu'uwai Momi housing complex, where Kahealani's family lives, led to the arrests of both men, Kato said. Police had been at a command post across the street since early Thursday. Much of the information that surfaced involved Aki.

"As the investigation progressed, more and more of them came forward," Kato said. "I guess as they had time to think about the events that were happening, things became clearer, and people from that community were coming forward."

At first, the "bits and pieces" seemed insignificant, Kato said, but not for very long. He would not elaborate, however.

Kato would not discuss how the girl was killed or if she had been killed somewhere other than the hiking trail. "The autopsy will tell us a lot," he said..

Kahealani's body was found by a man who was hiking and noticed something suspicious on a side trail near the 'Aiea Loop Trail, Kato said. Her body was about 30 to 35 yards along the side trail near the park's last parking lot.

Police had not focused their search in this area. The body was discovered by chance.

"Yes, definitely," Kato said. "We never got any information about that area, so we didn't go up there until we were called."

Kato asked that information be called in to police by anyone who might have seen something suspicious near the trail or its parking lots: a car or truck speeding up or down the road to the park or a girl running through the parking lots.

"From some of the things we've seen at the crime scene, we're speculating that maybe she tried to run," Kato said.

"We think she may have tried to get away."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.