Murder defendant confesses stabbing girlfriend to death

A 26-year-old Kapaa, Kauai, man accused of killing his girlfriend said he was not high on drugs and just "snapped" when he repeatedly stabbed her and then tried to kill himself by cutting his wrist and injecting himself with bleach, a court affidavit says.

Steven Michael Wilson is charged with second-degree murder of his girlfriend, Kendra Lewis, 21. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Lewis’ body was found Friday in the two-bedroom condominium she shared with Wilson at Kawai­hau Sports Villa in Kapaa.

Her uncle found the body covered by a black blanket on the floor of the ground-floor bedroom. A rolled-up towel had been wedged at the bottom of the door.

Kauai police believe Lewis had been dead for several days. She was last seen April 19 by her uncle and several friends at a dinner party in her apartment.

Police arrested Wilson on Saturday at the Hana­maulu 7-Eleven convenience store after receiving a tip from a friend of the couple.

If convicted, Wilson faces a maximum sentence of life with the possibility of parole as determined by the Hawaii Parole Authority.

As detailed in a 14-page affidavit, Wilson told Kauai police that Lewis was seeing another man and that her date picked her up at their condo.

Lewis’ uncle said he was told by a friend of the couple that Lewis and Wilson argued when Lewis told Wilson she had gotten an abortion after getting pregnant by someone else, the affidavit said.

Lewis’ mother said that the last time she heard from her daughter was April 9 in a text message that didn’t contain anything unusual.

Wilson told police that "he was not high on drugs when he stabbed Kendra" with a hunting knife, the affidavit said. Wilson said the two were in their bedroom when Lewis grabbed him from behind. Wilson said he "spun around and stabbed her in the stomach" but does not remember how many times he stabbed her.

Wilson said "he remembers lying down next to Kendra after stabbing her" and tried to kill himself by cutting his wrist, the affidavit said.

Wilson tried injecting himself with bleach to kill himself, the affidavit said. He then used the bleach to clean up the bloodstains from the bedroom carpet.

After stabbing Lewis, Wilson said, he "went on a drug binge" and tried to find a gun to kill himself. At one point, he said, he contemplated a shootout with Kauai police so they would kill him.

Wilson told police that he and Lewis had dated for two years in Alaska and were "involved in illegal drugs" there. The couple moved to Kauai in December. Lewis had worked as a cook at Olympic Cafe in Kapaa.