No other Kahealani suspects identified
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
After spending weeks investigating tips that others were involved in the slaying of 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal, Honolulu police have turned over their case against murder defendant Christopher Aki to city prosecutors.
Various allegations that others were involved could not be verified, nor could police find a murder weapon or Kahealani's gold bracelets.
Aki, 20, is accused of beating Kahealani to death. Her body was found off 'Aiea Loop Trail on Dec. 13, three days after she disappeared from Pu'uwai Momi public housing in Halawa.
Kahealani's disappearance sparked a communitywide search and an outpouring of support for the family.
Before she was found, Aki stood with the family as they made public appeals for the girl's safe return. He was a close family friend and boyfriend of Kahealani's half sister.
Police still are investigating tips coming in from sources at the prison where Aki is being held, and from the public housing community where Kahealani lived. Investigators have yet to confirm any information indicating others may have been involved .
"Everything we've heard so far is rumor," said Bill Kato, Honolulu Police Department supervising lieutenant of homicide investigations. "Some names have surfaced, but none have panned out (as suspects)."
Aki has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 25. He is being held in lieu of $5 million bail at the O'ahu Community Correctional Center.
Police, however, still are investigating the case and are awaiting lab results on blood recovered from Aki's car.
"The investigation will stay open until Day One of when we have to go to court," Kato said.
Aki was arrested the day the child's body was found after police said he gave two statements, one implicating two men in the murder and a second admitting to the slaying. The statements implicating the two men were discredited.
Police have been unable to verify some facts in the second statement. Aki said he dumped a "metal object" believed to be the murder weapon in Halawa Stream. Police searched the stream but found nothing.
According to police, Aki also said he threw six gold bracelets that Kahealani had been wearing into a trash bin. Investigators have been searching for the bracelets but have not found them.
But blood detected in Aki's car is a "key element" in the case as it now stands, Kato said. Police want to know if there's a match between Kahealani's blood and the samples recovered from the car. The blood and samples were sent to a Mainland lab late last month. Kato said the waiting period is usually two to four months for test results.
Deputy public defender Todd Eddins, Aki's attorney, declined to comment.
Aki, however, will be tried for a 2001 firearms offense unrelated to Kahealani's case before the murder trial. The firearms trial before Judge Victoria Marks is scheduled to begin April 7.
Advertiser staff writer Curtis Lum contributed to this report.
