Man says
fatal shooting
was accidental

A former deputy sheriff
is accused of killing a
drug-deal associate

A Kailua man accused of murdering a drug-business associate contends the gun went off accidentally during a struggle, fatally striking Yorck Woita in the head three times.

Gregory Awana, 38, an investigator for the city medical examiner and a former deputy sheriff, went on trial yesterday in Circuit Judge Steven Alm's courtroom. He is charged with second-degree murder for 28-year-old Woita's death on Aug. 29, 2003.

Backed into a room with no way to escape, Awana had no choice but to rush Woita in self-defense after Woita pointed a semiautomatic gun at him and threatened to kill him and his family, defense attorney David Gierlach said during opening statements. During a struggle the gun went off, Gierlach said.

After Woita was shot, Awana panicked and drove Woita's yellow Xterra to Waimanalo where he burned it, Gierlach said.

The next day, Awana borrowed a friend's fishing boat, placed Woita's body, wrapped in dark plastic, in it and towed the boat to Kaneohe Bay.

He allegedly drove out into the open ocean for an hour and dumped Woita's weighted body and the gun into the ocean. Woita's body has not been found.

The fatal confrontation stemmed from Woita's discovery earlier that week that Awana was running an indoor marijuana-growing operation without him, said deputy prosecutor Glenn Kim.

Prior to 2001, Woita, who did finishing work as a carpenter, was also a marijuana dealer, and he got his supply from Awana to sell to friends and for his own use.

The two struck a deal in 2001 to go into business together running a "grow house" at a Manoa home. But before the operation got off the ground, Awana changed his mind, Kim said.

Gierlach said Awana could not trust Woita.

When Woita found out Awana had continued without him, "He felt cheated. He felt like they had a deal," Kim said.

According to Donaldson "Moku" Santiago, Woita's stepbrother, Woita felt he was "owed" at least $600,000 to $1.2 million for a $30,000 investment into the Manoa "grow house" and his role in moving the drugs.

Awana appeared to have been running the marijuana operation for at least two years from 2001 to 2003, Kim said.

At Woita's request, Santiago and a mutual friend followed Woita to the Aug. 29 meeting that began in Kailua and ended up at the Manoa home.

Assured Woita was OK after calling him on his cell phone several times, the latest between 7:30 or 7:45 p.m., Santiago said he waited for Woita at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where his stepbrother had rented a room for the weekend.

Santiago said he got a call shortly after 9 p.m. from his grandmother on the Big Island, the registered owner of the Xterra that Woita had borrowed from Santiago. The Xterra had been found burning in Waimanalo, and police were notified.

"I almost lost my mind," Santiago said. "I had a feeling he wasn't with us anymore."

Under questioning by Gierlach, Santiago acknowledged that Woita had been a drug dealer for four or five years before August 2003 and that he acted as "muscle" for Woita.

He agreed Woita was furious when learning of Awana's betrayal, accusing him of "ripping him off."

Awana is also charged with a firearm and drug offenses, auto theft and second-degree criminal property damage. If convicted of second-degree murder, he faces life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.

The trial continues tomorrow and is expected to wrap up by Dec. 3.