Mom blames court delays in the killing of 7-year-old Reef Aikau

Two months before police discovered 7-year-old Reef Aikau fatally stabbed in Pauoa, the man suspected of killing him was scheduled to go on trial for two domestic violence charges linked to the alleged abuse of his wife, Reef’s mother.

But the April trial never happened. It was postponed twice, largely because of crowded court dockets.

About a half-dozen other delays in the criminal case meant that Gerald Aikau never went to trial before he is believed to have fatally injured his son before taking his own life on June 13, hanging himself at the family compound in Pauoa. The Medical Examiner’s Office classified Gerald Aikau’s death a suicide and the son’s a homicide.

The initial delay in Aikau’s criminal trial came even as his wife, Kat Aikau, told the court in a separate civil case that she had “immediate safety concerns” for her son because his father was acting erratically and doing drugs again.

The couple were living separately at the time and pursuing a divorce. In her April court filing, Kat Aikau asked a judge to temporarily suspend Gerald Aikau’s visitation rights with Reef.

Kat Aikau cites the multiple delays in the criminal case and untimely action in two civil matters — the divorce and a protective order against Gerald Aikau that was in effect at the time of the murder-suicide — in saying the system failed Reef.

“If they hadn’t kept postponing, postponing, maybe there’s a different outcome,” Kat Aikau told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser last week, the pain from her loss still weighing heavily on her. She choked back tears several times during the interview, her first since Reef’s murder.

VICTIMS OF THE SYSTEM

The gruesome crime shocked the community not only because it involved a father taking his son’s life but because of who they were — members of the well-known Aikau family, who help organize one of the world’s premier big-wave surf contests at Waimea Bay.

Gerald Aikau was the nephew of the legendary surfer Eddie Aikau, who died in 1978 attempting to assist the crew of the Hokule‘a voyaging canoe. Reef, an avid surfer, was his great-nephew.

The way the criminal and civil cases unfolded underscored what advocates for domestic violence victims say is common: Victims are often victimized by the system.

“(Kat Aikau) did everything that was available to her and sadly, yes, I agree the system failed her,” wrote Stacey Moniz, executive director of the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, in an email to the newspaper. “But honestly we cannot expect the system alone to keep people safe. Our entire community failed this little boy and his mom.”

She was referring to the need for community members to become more active in addressing Hawaii’s domestic violence problem, which affects people from all walks of life but is considered vastly underreported.

Kat Aikau filed two separate requests for temporary restraining orders against her husband, the first in October and the second in November. The second one, which prohibited him from contacting her except for visitation matters dealing with their son and later with their pending divorce, was in effect at the time of the murder-suicide.

Kat Aikau sought the October order after her husband allegedly injured her arm during a property-destroying rampage at their home, according to her TRO petition. Their son was in another room at the time.

That incident led to Gerald Aikau being charged in November with abuse of a household member. In February, he was charged with violating the protective order. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Over five months starting in late December, seven continuances were granted in the two criminal cases, which were consolidated in April, according to court records. Most of the delays were requested by the defense, the records show. One was requested because Gerald Aikau was to attend a drug rehab program on the mainland.

Having that many continuances in five months was unusual but not unheard of, according to several attorneys. The initial criminal trial date of April 18 also was rescheduled twice, first to May, then to August. One of the delays was attributed to “court congestion,” the records show.

Jack Tonaki, head of the state public defender’s office, which represented Gerald Aikau in the criminal matters, said trial dates for domestic violence cases frequently are continued because of the sheer volume of such cases.

While Tonaki professed “total sympathy” for Reef’s mother, he said he would hesitate to fault the system in this case. Sometimes, a tragedy occurs while a case is pending, and “it’s not something that actors in the system necessarily will have a warning over,” he said.

And even if Gerald Aikau had been convicted of the two misdemeanor charges, there’s no guarantee he would have been incarcerated, Tonaki said, citing the many cases that don’t result in prison time.

Even as the criminal cases proceeded, the Aikaus were at odds in civil court, initially over the wife’s protective order requests and then their divorce.

Kat Aikau in the documents repeatedly raised concerns about her safety. In November, she said she believed her husband had stopped seeing his psychiatrist, was smoking crystal meth again and suffered from hallucinations. “Gerald appears completely out of control, and I am fearful of him and I don’t feel safe,” she wrote in her request for a restraining order.

DISPUTES AND DELAYS

Gerald Aikau, who denied the abuse allegations, filed for divorce in early March, citing a broken marriage. He sought joint custody of Reef.

In her April 13 response, Kat Aikau asked for sole legal and physical custody of Reef and temporary suspension of Gerald Aikau’s right to visit their son. “I’m concerned that Gerald had a mental health issue due to his drug use,” she wrote.

But by May 10, the couple had reached a tentative divorce agreement, which included sharing custody, with the mother having Reef for most of the time. Just before the decree was to be submitted to a judge for approval, however, an attorney for Gerald Aikau joined the case and asked for a continuance to get more information.

One topic of dispute involved Kat Aikau’s efforts to get her son a passport. She told the Star-Advertiser that she was planning to take him on a monthlong trip in mid-May — during Reef’s summer break — and part of the time was to be spent in Greece working on a friend’s charter boat. She said it wasn’t a vacation.

In January, Kat Aikau purchased a boat on Oahu for her and her son to live aboard. Although she lived on a boat when she was young, she said she needed experience being in charge of one, so the Greece trip was to help her learn those skills. But her husband refused to sign the passport documents, she said.

In March, Kat Aikau asked the court to amend the existing protective order to compel Gerald Aikau to sign the documents. A judge ruled that wasn’t the proper venue for addressing the issue. She made the request again in April in the divorce case. But the court postponed the matter to July after Gerald Aikau’s new attorney asked for the continuance to get more information for the divorce decree, according to court records and interviews.

“They just kept putting it off, so I couldn’t take (Reef)” on the trip, Kat Aikau said. If Reef had gone, she added, he would have been off-island on the date of the murder-suicide and likely would still be alive.

Steven Kim, Gerald Aikau’s divorce attorney, said he disagreed with victim advocates who say the Aikau case represented a failure of the system. He called the murder-suicide an “unforeseen tragedy” and noted that Kat Aikau, who undoubtedly treasured her son, felt comfortable enough leaving him with Gerald while she went on her trip in May.

“If she had any inkling that Gerald would ever hurt Reef, I think she would have never gone on vacation without Reef,” Kim said.

Kat Aikau said she left Reef with Gerald Aikau and his aunt, whom Gerald was living with and who assured her that Reef would be fine. Her husband also recently had passed a drug test, she added.

“I thought maybe he was trying to work through (his problems),” Kat Aikau said. “And the aunt is there, the aunt said, ‘No worries.’ I wanted Reef with me no matter what. But the court did not come through.”

She is still trying to come to grips with what happened. “(Reef) would have had such a bright future,” Kat Aikau said, fighting back tears. “He didn’t deserve this.”