KEALAKEKUA — The man allegedly involved in a vigilante killing Oct. 14 in Kailua-Kona pleaded not guilty to murder and other offenses on Wednesday.
KEALAKEKUA — The man allegedly involved in a vigilante killing Oct. 14 in Kailua-Kona pleaded not guilty to murder and other offenses on Wednesday.
Gafatasi Napoleon, 29, of Kailua-Kona, is charged with second-degree murder, unlawful control of a propelled vehicle, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and fourth-degree property damage.
Third Circuit Chief Justice Ronald Ibarra set Napoleon’s trial for March 7.
Napoleon’s bail is $271,000, $250,000 of which is for the murder charge. Ibarra asked if court-appointed defense attorney Robert Kim was going to ask for a bond reduction.
Kim said he would be filing a motion when it was appropriate.
Napoleon allegedly killed Alanaokala Solomon Covington with a shotgun shot to the chest on Oct. 14 near one of the homeless camps at the intersection of Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Henry Street.
Covington had been accused of sexually assaulting four women, including Napoleon’s girlfriend, Rex King, a witness to the killing, testified at a previous hearing.
King said three women had individually approached him earlier with the accusations. Napoleon’s girlfriend was the fourth alleged victim.
Throughout Oct. 14 Napoleon was intense and serious all day, unlike his normal calm demeanor, King said.
King said it was their intent to assault Covington, 36, possibly sending him to the hospital, but he never thought to kill Covington.
“I knew we were going to beat the (expletive) out of somebody,” King testified Oct. 26, adding that Napoleon did not seem upset after the incident. “He didn’t panic, he didn’t freak out. But neither did I.”
Napoleon seemed to feel justified after the shooting, King said.
Napoleon allegedly had King help him remove the body on Oct. 16 from where it had been laying.
Allegedly Napoleon was driving Covington’s Toyota Tacoma truck after the killing. The truck had been repainted from silver to black. An officer testified that he recognized the vehicle, as he’d ordered Covington to move it several times.
That was the truck used to move the body, police said. The body was buried under lava rock and dry cement near mile maker 27 of Highway 190.
Napoleon was arrested at the scene of an extensive graffiti display on a Kailua-Kona street that showed what appears to be shackled prisoner standing on a skull with the word “RAPIST” on it with a message that seems to justify taking matters into one’s own hands.
Covington is survived by a daughter, his parents, two brothers and a sister. He was a former field manager for Waiaka Farm and a member of Mana Christian Ohana, according to an obituary in West Hawaii Today.
The visitation for Covington will be from 8-10 a.m. Saturday at Imiola Congregational Church in Waimea, with a service at 10.