Dennis Cacatian talked with his lawyer, Michael Park, in court yesterday. Cacatian, the uncle of Kahealani Indreginal, was subpoenaed to testify at Christopher Aki's trial.
Uncle of slain girl
will not testifyHe exercises his Fifth Amendment
rights following a subpoena
Jurors in the murder trial of Christopher Aki will not be hearing from the man who the defense claims is Kahealani Indreginal's real killer.
Aki's defense had subpoenaed Dennis Cacatian, 42, of Aiea, to testify yesterday. But Circuit Court Judge Virginia Crandall excused Cacatian as a witness after he informed the court he was exercising his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Jurors were not present when deputy public defender Todd Eddins asked Cacatian whether he was prepared to answer questions concerning his involvement in Kahealani's death and Cacatian answered, "No."
Indreginal's body was discovered at an Aiea state park Dec. 13, 2002, three days after she disappeared from the Halawa Housing complex where she lived.
Aki, 21, later confessed to police that he killed her, but just before trial, he claimed that Cacatian, Kahealani's uncle, was the real killer.
Aki, who is charged with second-degree murder, testified this week that he falsely confessed because Cacatian had threatened to kill him and his family if he told anyone what really happened.
Aki said he drove Kahealani to the Aiea park Dec. 10, 2002, to speak with Cacatian about the girl. Kahealani confided in Aki the day before that Cacatian had been touching her inappropriately, and he believed her because the uncle was a convicted rapist, Aki testified.
Aki said that Cacatian took Kahealani down a trail, and the next time he saw her, she was lying on the ground, bleeding from the neck with Cacatian holding a knife as he stood over her.
Aki said Cacatian and an unidentified man pushed the girl's body down a slope. He said Cacatian returned later with a large rock and smashed her face with it at least four times.
In an unexpected twist yesterday, the court adjourned early after it was learned that Cacatian's brother, Eldefonso "Poncho" Cacatian, who had been subpoenaed to testify for the defense, is in a coma at the Queen's Medical Center from an apparent drug overdose, according to police sources.
Nelson Goo, Eldefonso Cacatian's attorney, said his client "wanted to testify."
He could not confirm Eldefonso Cacatian's condition or availability to testify, but said that he had just been released from prison last week.
Goo said Aki's defense had asked about Cacatian's status so that they can have him declared medically unavailable to testify by the court.
According to defense documents, Eldefonso Cacatian would have been able to testify that his brother, Dennis, told him that he had killed Kahealani.
Eldefonso Cacatian had informed the Office of Public Defender and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney that he had information about the case. According to the defense, he told public defender's investigators that Kahealani's killer was someone he was close to -- such as a blood relative.
He later told the investigator that his brother Dennis had told him he had killed Kahealani, the defense says.
Eldefonso Cacatian was released from prison April 22 after pleading guilty two days earlier to a misdemeanor shoplifting offense.
Deputy Prosecutor Paul Mow said Eldefonso Cacatian had taken Tylenol and shampoo from the Sack 'n Save in Halawa earlier this year without paying for it. He was sentenced to time served and ordered to pay a $600 fine, Mow said.
Police had questioned Dennis Cacatian following his arrest on Feb. 6, 2003, on drug and firearm offenses unrelated to the killing.
According to defense documents, Dennis Cacatian sidestepped detectives' questions about whether he killed Kahealani or knew who killed her.
Dennis Cacatian also claimed to have an alibi witness who could confirm his whereabouts at the time Kahealani disappeared. He also made several statements indicating that more than one person was involved in the girl's slaying, according to the defense.
Dennis Cacatian, who is out on bail in a federal case, is expected to turn himself in May 11 to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to begin serving a 34-month prison term. He pleaded guilty in March to possessing four illegal rifle ammunition magazines.
Star-Bulletin reporter Rod Antone contributed to this report.
