StarBulletin.com

Call reveals panic of alleged shooter


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POSTED: Saturday, March 21, 2009

Toi Nofoa allegedly fatally shot Royal Kaukani in a jealous rage hours after he saw her with one of his friends, according to a court document.


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According to police, Toi Nofoa placed a call to his aunt the morning before the killing stating that he had seen Royal Kaukani holding hands with his friend.

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At about 7 a.m. Tuesday, Nofoa called his aunt in Sacramento, Calif., and told her he saw Kaukani with one of his friends while he was getting something to eat.

“;Nofoa alluded that Royal was dating his friend and that they may have been holding hands,”; said his aunt in court documents. He sounded disturbed, telling her he could not believe that she would do that. His aunt told Nofoa to forget about her and that he could not do anything about it.

A gunman who fled on a motorcycle shot Kaukani near her home in Ewa Beach at about 2:30 p.m.

At about 3:20 p.m., Nofoa called back his aunt, screaming and crying, saying he could not believe what he had just done. According to the court filing, Nofoa told her that he shot Kaukani.

“;Nofoa didn't say anything after that. He just kept crying and crying and breathing hard, and he said that he was going to kill himself,”; his aunt said.

Police located and arrested Nofoa in Waimanalo at 9:10 p.m. Tuesday. Almost 30 minutes later, Kaukani was pronounced dead at Queen's Medical Center from a gunshot wound to her head.

Nofoa, 31, appeared in Honolulu District Court yesterday on charges of killing Kaukani. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. He is being held in lieu of $4 million bail.

Nofoa was charged Thursday with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and a firearm violation. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder.

Kaukani, 25, was going to testify against Nofoa in a Sept. 11 kidnapping and terroristic threatening case.

The documents state that Kaukani headed to her sister's Kaukolu Place home sometime before 2:24 p.m. Tuesday to watch her two nieces. Kaukani was living with her sister and her family at the Ewa Beach home.

A witness saw Kaukani stop her black Hummer on Kaukolu Way, a short roadway that leads to Kaukolu Place. A man standing next to a parked motorcycle was talking to her through her right passenger window. The witness then heard a loud bang and saw the barrel of a handgun in the man's right hand. He saw the man enter her vehicle from the right rear passenger door.

The witness then saw the Hummer drive off on Kaukolu Way. Five minutes later he heard a second loud bang and saw Kaukani bleeding and lying on the roadway. He told authorities the same man who entered the Hummer fled on a motorcycle. The man's description matched Nofoa's.

Nofoa and Kaukani appeared to have dated on and off since the summer of 2006. They had lived together in Waianae from November 2006 to last August.

At least twice within the last six months, Nofoa threatened Kaukani that he was going to shoot her, according to court documents.

Both incidents occurred outside Ko Olina Beach Club, where Kaukani worked. The first confrontation occurred Sept. 11, the second on Feb. 25, according to court documents.