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A man who was acquitted of murder in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend was found guilty Monday afternoon of kidnapping her.
A state jury deliberated just two hours today before finding Toi Nofoa, 34, guilty of abducting Royal Kaukani at her workplace in Ko Olina on Sept. 11, 2008 and taking her to Haleiwa where two gas station employees helped free her.
Nofoa faces a mandatory 20-year prison term when he is sentenced in October.
A different state jury found Nofoa not guilty last November of murdering Kaukani.
The 25-year-old Kaukani died Mar. 27, 2009 from a gunshot wound to the back of her neck as she sat in her sport utility vehicle in a Kapolei neighborhood. She also had a gunshot to her face.
An arrest warrant was out for Nofoa’s arrest at the time of Kaukani’s murder because he had skipped out on a court hearing in the kidnapping case.
