KAILUA-KONA — The suspect in the killing of a man Oct. 14 did it out of a sense of justice, testified a witness who was there when the trigger was pulled.
Gafatasi Jorden Kaipo Napoleon, 29, of Kailua-Kona is charged with murder in the death of Alanaokala Solomon Covington, 36, of Kailua-Kona. Napoleon was arrested Saturday after Covington’s body was recovered Oct. 19 at a burial site on Highway 190 north of mile marker 27. An anonymous tip Oct. 16 led to the discovery of the body and a search for a suspect.
Napoleon allegedly shot and killed Covington after he was told earlier that day the older man sexually abused Napoleon’s girlfriend.
Rex King Jensen, also known as RJ, testified during a preliminary hearing Wednesday that Napoleon’s girlfriend was the fourth young woman he knew who brought forward such accusations against Covington.
Jensen and Covington were occupants of a homeless camp on the southwest corner of Queen Kaahamanu Highway and Henry Street, where several of the alleged abuses occurred.
“I thought we were going to beat the (expletive) out of Alana,” Jensen testified, using a nickname for Covington.
Jensen, Napoleon, Covington and the woman involved walked mauka toward the culverts under the highway near the camp, Jensen testified.
“I’m sorry to say this in front of the family, but the truth is the truth,” he testified.
Covington’s parents and other relatives were in the gallery Wednesday. Also present were members of Napoleon’s family.
Jensen explained that “everybody at the camp knew that it had happened and it was a problem.”
“Was anyone armed?” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark Disher asked about Oct. 14.
Jensen paused for several seconds and said, quietly, “Tasi,” the nickname for Napoleon. The shotgun was a basic part of Napoleon’s lifestyle, Jensen said, much like how other residents carried knives or other weapons. An autopsy conducted last week on Covington’s body found he was killed by a gunshot wound to his chest.
It was a shock when “Tasi spun and shot him in the chest,” Jensen testified.
“The first thought I had was he fired a blank. It scared the (expletive) out of me,” he said. “I saw the blast. I felt the concussion of the blast and saw Alana go backwards.”
Napoleon directed Jensen to get a tarp to cover the body, which he did.
The body laid there for two days, although it was moved slightly at some point from where the two originally left it — although testimony didn’t specify who or why. Nevertheless, on Oct. 16, Napoleon drove up in Covington’s truck that had been repainted black from its original silver.
Napoleon told Jensen, “Let’s be done with this once and for all,” Jensen testified.
They put the body in the back of the truck, which was covered in clear plastic.
Going up Palisades, they stopped at two homes with the body hidden in the back, Jensen said, before parking on Highway 190. There, they buried the body near mile marker 27 on the upper road between Kailua-Kona and Waimea under lava rock and unmixed dry cement Napoleon brought along, Jensen said.
They performed the process with little talking.
“Nothing disrespectful. Nothing like that,” Jensen said.
The next day, he said, Napoleon apologized to him.
“If we’d talked about this before, I woulda never let him do it and we wouldn’t be here right now,” he said.
On Oct. 22, Napoleon was found on Hane Street in the Kona Hills Estates gated community.
Officer Kyoung-Hwan Yu was assigned to a call of graffiti in progress in the same area. When he arrived, he found a truck with four people inside.
Yu testified Wednesday that Napoleon was found laying flat in the back, under a blanket.
The graffiti was extensive, Yu said, and Disher said it was important in explaining the murder.
“It was a man in an orange jumpsuit. His ankles were shackled. His left foot was on top of a skull and on the skull was the word ‘rapist.’ And he was wearing a black bandana on his forehead. And there was writing on his chest,” Yu testified.
Initially, he could not recall the exact text. Reviewing his report, Yu said the text on the chest was “society does not understand that there is evil out there, ‘ellipsis,’ and that it continues on. Sometimes a man has to take action to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves.”
The image was gone Wednesday.
When asked by defense attorney Robert Kim how officers suspected Napoleon of painting the graffiti, since there were four people present, Yu said Napoleon had orange and black paint on his right hand along with orange paint on his slipper. He also was wearing a black bandana in the same way as the painting, Yu said.
Additionally, police recovered a plastic packet and pipe from where Napoleon was laying in the truck, along with a plastic packet on his body. Testing showed the packets contained methamphetamines and amphetamines, Yu said, adding that officers were instructed to be on the lookout for Napoleon and arrest him.
Napoleon is charged with second-degree murder, unlawful control of a propelled vehicle, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and fourth-degree property damage.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Nov. 2 in front of 3rd Circuit Court Chief Justice Ronald Ibarra.
Email Graham Milldrum at gmilldrum@westhawaiitoday.com.
