Witness details killing: Testimony at hearing says alleged slaying was vigilante justice for sexual abuse

KAILUA-KONA — The suspect in the killing of a man on 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 allegedly shot and killed Covington after he was told earlier that day the older man had sexually abused Napoleon’s girlfriend.

Rex King Jensen, also known as RJ, testified this was the fourth young woman he knew who’d brought forward such accusations against Covington.

Jensen and Covington were both residents of a homeless camps on the southwest corner of the Queen Kaahamanu Highway and Henry Street, where several of the alleged abuses had happened.

“I thought we were going to beat the (expletive) out of Alana,” he testified, using a nickname for Covington.

He, Napoleon and Covington walked mauka toward the culverts under Queen Kaahamanu Highway near the intersection with Henry Street, along with the woman involved.

Jensen said three other women had told him that Covington had abused them, although he was not specific as to how.

“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. 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.”

Nothing happened in response until Oct. 14.

“Was anyone armed?” Disher asked.

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.

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.

But the truth was a moment behind.

“I saw the blast. I felt the concussion of the blast and saw Alana go backwards,” Jensen said.

Napoleon directed Jensen to get a tarp to cover the body, which he did.

The body laid there for two days, although it had been moved slightly at some point from where the two had originally left it, — although testimony didn’t specify who or why. Nevertheless, on Oct. 16, Napoleon drove up in Covington’s truck, which 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 local lava rock and unmixed dry cement Napoleon had 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.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you ahead of time. I didn’t have a chance to talk to you,” Jensen testified Napoleon told him.

And that was something Jensen said he’d wished Napoleon had done earlier.

“If we’d talked about this before, I woulda never let him do it and we wouldn’t be here right now,” he said.

He didn’t go to police as he was trying to put it behind him, he said. His loyalty to Napoleon was important in this.

“It’s a little difficult for people outside. I know for me that if everything went wrong and I had a lot of people coming after me. I knew Tasi had my back,” Jensen said.

Later, when officers interviewed him, he said, “they knew more than I did.”

The arrest took six days to effect. Napoleon was taken on Oct. 22 on Hane Street in the Ooma Plantation area.

Officer Kyoung-Hwan Yu was assigned to a call of graffiti in progress. When he arrived he found a truck with four people inside.

Yu testified they found Napoleon lying flat in the back, under a blanket.

The graffiti was extensive, Yu said, and deputy prosecuting attorney 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.”

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 was also wearing a black bandana in the same way as the painting, Yu said.

Additionally, police recovered a zip packet and pipe from where Napoleon was lying in the truck, along with a zip packet on his body.

Testing showed they contained meth and amphetamines, respectively, Yu said, adding that officers were instructed to be on the lookout for Napoleon and arrest him.

In total, 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 is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Nov. 2 in front of 3rd Circuit Chief Justice Ronald Ibarra.