Kealiioklanai Meheula contended he stabbed Percy Kipapa multiple times in a pickup truck in Kahalu'u May 16 last year because Kipapa was choking him.

But a Circuit Court jury earlier this year rejected that defense and a lesser conviction of manslaughter in finding Meheula guilty of murder.

The Hawai'i Paroling Authority will later set the minimum term Meheula must serve before he is eligible for release on parole.