Stephanie Kahalekulu, a great-aunt of 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild, cried yesterday as she listened to Charles Constantinides, Santa Clara County deputy district attorney, during a news conference in San Jose, Calif.
Suspect is proud
of abusing girlExecution might await a man
for the death of a 7-year-old
former Hawaii resident
SAN JOSE, Calif. >> He bragged about kidnapping and killing 7-year-old former Hawaii resident Xiana Fairchild, but it took authorities more than three years to get enough evidence to arrest Curtis Dean Anderson for the slaying.
Anderson, 43, will face charges of murder, kidnapping and child molestation in the case, which began when Xiana disappeared in December 1999 and remained unsolved when her skull was discovered more than a year later, Charles Constantinides, Santa Clara County deputy district attorney, said yesterday.
Anderson, a former Vallejo cab driver with a long criminal history for crimes against females, was transferred to the county jail and will be arraigned today. If convicted of murder, he could face the death penalty.
Anderson already is serving a 251-year sentence for the 2000 kidnapping and molestation of another little girl from Vallejo who eventually escaped.
After he was arrested for that crime, Anderson bragged to reporters and to Xiana's family that he kept Xiana for two weeks and then gave her, alive, to someone else. He also said he once gave Xiana a ride in his cab. Later, he sent investigators on a failed search for her remains.
Beginning last summer, three investigators -- a Vallejo police officer, a Santa Clara County sheriff's investigator and a district attorney's office investigator -- worked full time corroborating Anderson's claims.
Investigators also interviewed a convicted felon who was housed in the Solano County jail with Anderson. Before any media coverage linked Anderson to Xiana's abduction, the man wrote a letter to the Solano County District Attorney's office summarizing Anderson's alleged confession to him.
Constantinides said DNA testing has been done, but refused to comment on the results or give any details about physical evidence connecting Anderson to Xiana. He also refused to say when or how Xiana was killed.
Her skull was found in the Santa Cruz mountains in January 2001.
According to the investigators' declaration, Anderson admitted in two prison interviews earlier this year that he kidnapped Xiana and held her for several weeks. He also claimed to have a videotape of the sexual abuse, but authorities refused to say whether the videotape exists.
The investigators said Anderson told them he had prostituted Xiana for money, but authorities did not disclose whether they had evidence corroborating that claim.
Anderson's former attorney, Carl Spieckerman, would only say, "He's never going to get out of prison anyway, except unless they want to kill him to make it worse."
Xiana, born while her mother, Antoinette Robinson, was in prison for auto theft, disappeared while walking to a school bus stop, six months after Robinson reclaimed her, against the wishes of other relatives.
Stephanie Kahalekulu, a great-aunt who helped raise Xiana in Hawaii and Colorado until the girl went to Vallejo, helped mount an extensive search for the girl.
Police called Kahalekulu a heroine for making sure they continued their investigation. She said the case had taken its toll on her emotionally, but she was glad justice was finally being done.
Long suspicious of Anderson's involvement, Kahalekulu remained in contact with him while he awaited trial for the other kidnapping. She hoped to glean information about her niece's disappearance, but investigators said Anderson only taunted Kahalekulu, claiming he could ensure Xiana's safety if she paid him money.
The extortion attempts ended after Xiana's skull turned up, the investigators stated.
"I'd like to see the death penalty, but even better, I'd like to see ... him to be tortured in pain on a daily basis," Kahalekulu said, tears filling her eyes.
