Aki says he saw girl stabbed, beaten

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

Murder defendant Christopher Aki told a packed courtroom yesterday that he watched in horror as his girlfriend's 11-year-old sister was first stabbed, then beaten with a pipe and finally smashed in the face repeatedly with a large rock — all at the hands of her uncle.

Christopher Aki testified yesterday that he lied about killing 11-year-old Kahealani Indreginal out of fear. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

He said he told police he killed the girl because the real killer, Dennis Cacatian, put a gun to his head and told him to keep quiet about the incident.

"He told me, 'You don't know nothing, you ain't seen nothing or you're dead and your family's dead,' " Aki said. "I thought he was gonna pull the trigger right there."

Cacatian has denied any involvement in the girl's death and is scheduled to testify today.

Yesterday marked the first time that Aki has talked publicly about the disappearance and death of Kahealani "Kahea" Indreginal. The 'Aiea Elementary School sixth-grader was last seen Dec. 10, 2002, near her family's apartment in the Pu'uwai Momi public housing complex in Halawa.

Her beaten and badly decomposed body was found off the 'Aiea Loop Trail three days later.

Calm and attentive and dressed in a gray long-sleeved shirt and dark trousers, Aki sat on the witness stand for more than five hours yesterday, politely answering questions from state Deputy Public Defender Todd Eddins, his lawyer, and City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle.

Carlisle told the jury when the trial began that Aki killed the girl a day after smoking crystal methamphetamine with his friends.

Aki, 21, yesterday acknowledged that he spent a large part of the day before the girl was killed smoking methamphetamine with two friends and that he told police about his meth use when he falsely confessed to the killing.

"It was a very easy possible answer for the detectives to accept," as to why the girl was killed, Aki said. "As soon as I said 'ice,' they clicked on that."

He said he thought police would realize he was fabricating a story.

"I thought they would figure it out without me giving Dennis up," Aki said. " I thought they would figure it out. They're supposed to be the detectives."

Aki said the girl's mother dropped her off Monday night, Dec. 9, 2002, at his grandfather's house in Kalihi Valley where he lived with his grandparents and Kahea's halfsister Tanya Mamala-Tumbaga, Aki's girlfriend at the time and mother of his son.

He said Kahealani seemed troubled and eventually told him Cacatian had been "touching her."

"It was very emotional for her. She did not want to tell me. She was very soft-spoken," Aki said.

He said he told her not to worry and that the touching "won't happen again."

"I was angry. It was clear to me that she didn't tell no one. There was no one else she could tell, and she asked me not to tell no one," Aki said.

He said the girl's mother picked her up and that he spent a restless night trying to figure out how to resolve the problem.

He said he got up the next day and called Cacatian and arranged to meet him later that day. Aki said he picked up Kahealani after school near the housing complex and drove her straight to the state park at the top of 'Aiea Heights.

He said he found Cacatian's van in one of the parking lots and saw him inside, smoking methamphetamine with another man. He said Cacatian got out of the van and he confronted him about the girl's claims.

"He yelled for her to get out of my vehicle," Aki said. "He was angry, very angry. You could see the rage in his face. I could see him breathing harder, I could see the anger in him."

He said Cacatian grabbed him by the shirt and swung him out of the way before leading the girl down a path. Five to seven minutes passed before he started to walk down the trail to see what was happening, Aki said.

"I could see Dennis looking straight at me with a knife in his hand. I could see Kahea lying down on her face," Aki said.

He said Cacatian ordered him to come down to where he was and to drag the girl's body farther down the slope.

"She had blood all over her neck. She wasn't moving, she wasn't making any sound. I knew she was dead right there," Aki said.

In response to questions from Carlisle, Aki said he knew the girl was dead when he stood with her family at a press conference two days later and asked for the public's help in finding her.

He admitted that when the session ended he turned to the girl's grandmother and told her, "Don't worry grandma, Kahea will be all right."

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.