Man arraigned in killing of fiancee's younger sister

•	Suspect in girl's murder confesses, police say
	To express your sympathy to the family of Kahealani Indreginal, e-mail us at online@honoluluadvertiser.com

By Mike Gordon, Dan Nakaso and Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writers

Christopher Clayburn Aki, the man accused of killing his fiancee's 11-year-old half-sister, showed no emotion today when he was arraigned in District Court on second-degree murder charges.

Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga, 18, gets support from a family member as she talks about her fiance, Christopher Clayburn Aki, who confessed to murdering her half sister. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

A preliminary hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in District Court. He is being held in lieu of $5 million bail.

Kahealani was abducted after school Dec. 10 from her Pu'uwai Momi housing complex in Makalapa. Her body was found by a hiker Friday afternoon along the 'Aiea Loop Trail.

An autopsy today concluded she died from head and neck injuries, according to the Honolulu medical examiner's office.

Family members today said they were told by police that the girl had been choked and stabbed.

Aki is a longtime close friend of the family who had stood with them Thursday morning as they publicly pleaded for Kahealani's safe return. He and Kahealani's 18-year-old half-sister, Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga, have an 11-month old son.

Only two members of Kahealani's family, both cousins, were at the arraignment today. One of them, Cheyenne Letisi, was angry that Aki did not even make eye-contact with her.

"He had no feelings," she said. "He didn't even look around the courtroom to face the family. He showed no remorse."

Christopher Aki did not make eye contact with the victim's family members during his arraignment this morning. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I don't think he acted alone," she said outside the courthouse as she tried unsuccessfully to hold back tears.

"I just feel so hurt that he did this to me," she said. "It is not like him. He goes to church. He is nice."

Mamala-Tumbaga said she and other members of her family repeatedly confronted Aki several times last week before his arrest Friday and on each occasion, he denied being involved.

"I asked him, 'You better not lie to me if you know where she is,' " Mamala-Tumbaga recalled.

"I don't know how he did this," she said. "I have questions I want to ask him to his face."

She has not spoken to Aki since his arrest but planned to as soon as police allowed it.

Letisi said it made her sick to think of how he consoled the family last week and how they hugged him during their frantic search for the girl.

He made them "feel like fools," she said today.

"It's scary," Letisi said. "What kind of sicko would do that?"

Both Letisi and Mamala-Tumbaga said Kahealani trusted Aki and said the girl would never have willingly left with anyone if he was not there.

"She trusted Chris," Letisi said. "We blame him."

Homicide detective Lt. Bill Kato yesterday said Aki has a criminal history that includes felony charges but "nothing compared to what has happened in the past few days."

"He accepted the responsibility for what his actions were that day, and there were no other parties involved in this," Kato said.

Police homicide detectives early yesterday morning released an 18-year-old man and a 31-year-old homeless man, Robert Edmund Hicks II, after concluding that they were not involved.

"I'm sure the public is going to be concerned," Kato said. "They heard that we arrested three people and we let two go. ... We want to make sure that once we release these people that they're not going to be bothered or harassed."

Lehua Tumbaga, mother of Kahealani and Mamala-Tumbaga, said authorities had told her nothing about their release. Kahealani's father, Vincent Indreginal, yesterday said he found the news difficult to accept.

"To me, it doesn't seem that this is something Chris could pull off by himself," he said. "He doesn't have the guts to do this. And to a child? Maybe he is scared of the other individuals."

Aki's mother, Patricia, had been notified of the turn the investigation had taken. She said her religion would provide the answers in her life — and her son's.

"He confessed," she said. "But my life must go on. His flesh will have to reap the consequences, but his soul is saved."

Kahealani's disappearance led parents and teachers to talk to children about safety and the chances that a stranger might kidnap them.

"We as a society have a tendency in believing that the boogeyman is the stranger," Honolulu Police Maj. Darryl Perry said yesterday. "Statistically speaking, often it is not. It's people who know each other."

In his initial statement to homicide detectives, Aki implicated the other men and said robbery was the primary motive, Kato said. But Aki's original account did not match the physical evidence in the case, police said.

Now, investigators' belief that Aki acted alone is "substantiated by the physical evidence," said Kato, who declined to go into detail.

Although her Hawaiian bracelets were missing, Kahealani's necklace and earrings were found with her body.

"Robbery may have been a part of it," Kato said. "Now, it still may be a small part of it, but not the main thrust of what happened."

Police also confiscated Aki's 1998, four-door blue Dodge Neon, and hope to find witnesses who may have seen it near the 'Aiea trail.

On Saturday, investigators received information "that turned out to be very significant," Kato said. "I'm sure there are people out there who may have seen something and if they think it's significant, please call us."

Police said that when they realized that Aki's story about the other two men was not backed up by evidence, detectives confronted him with the discrepancies.

"At that time, he mentioned that his first story was false and those two other individuals — the 18-year-old and the 31-year-old — had nothing to do with it, and he accepted full responsibility for what happened," Kato said.

Advertiser staff writer Rod Ohira contributed to this report.