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DNA leads police to suspect in teen's strangling death


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POSTED: Monday, September 07, 2009

A DNA sample from the body of Iris Rodrigues-Kaikana, whose naked body was found in a Kalihi alley last month, led police to the man arrested for her death, court documents show.

Police charged Corbit K. Ahn, 29, yesterday with second-degree murder for the strangulation of 18-year-old Rodrigues-Kaikana. He is being held on $2 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.

Ahn, an amateur kickboxer, was arrested at his Makiki home Friday night by members of the Specialized Services Division of the Police Department.

Rodrigues-Kaikana's body was found Aug. 24 at about 7:30 a.m. by a woman picking flowers near Winant Street. Authorities said she had been strangled.

Court documents said Rodrigues-Kaikana went to an apartment on Haka Drive near where her body was found after she finished work on Aug. 23.

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A witness told police Ahn was also at the apartment and was told by Rodrigues-Kaikana to “;get off me”; while they were both sitting on the couch on the rear lanai of the apartment.

During an interview with police on the day Rodrigues-Kaikana's body was found, Ahn denied assaulting her or having any information on her death.

Ahn told police he went home from the apartment sometime between 10:30 and 11 p.m., according to court documents.

A Honolulu Police Department criminalist later found Ahn's DNA in samples taken from various locations on Rodrigues-Kaikana's body.

A reward was offered for information about the case, but it is unclear from court documents whether any tips qualified for the reward.

According to criminal records, Ahn has four convictions, including two felonies for breaking into a car and a second-degree assault.