Court documents reveal gruesome allegations against adoptive parents accused of murdering daughter

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Court documents released Friday reveal gruesome new allegations against foster parents accused of murdering 6-year-old Isabella “Ariel” Kalua, including keeping her in a dog crate in the bathroom. bath with duct tape over her mouth and refused to feed her.

The new graphic details were included in a complaint made public on Friday, the same day Isaac and Lehua Kalua made their first court appearance for the murder of the missing girl.

The two appeared via a live broadcast from the Oahu Community Correctional Center and allowed their lawyer to plead not guilty on their behalf. They did not say a word as the state argued that they continue to be held without bail because the crimes they are accused of carry an extended sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. .

Deputy Prosecutor Tiffany Kaeo also argued that the Kaluas could pose a flight risk.

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“Isaac Kalua has ties to the continental United States. He has already been convicted of aggressive behavior, ”Kaeo said.

The judge agreed, which means the pair will remain in jail at least until their next court appearance scheduled for November 26.

Meanwhile, investigators returned to the Kaluas’ home on Friday as they continued their search. Isabella’s remains have not yet been found.

Outside Waimanalo’s house on Friday, Isabella’s biological family also gathered to mourn and promise that they would fight for custody of the little girl’s siblings.

“Everyone is very disgusted and hurt. Personally, I’m all in tears, ”said Alena Kaeo, Isabella’s biological aunt. “And it definitely gave me that extra push to fight for the girls to bring them home safely, where they belong to us as biological family members.”

In court documents released on Friday, police said an older brother of Isabella told investigators earlier this month that the Kaluas had asked him to “keep a secret” – that Isabella was locked in a dog cage in the bathroom with duct tape over her nose and mouth and that she “didn’t wake up”.

This brother was then allegedly forced to help transport his sister’s lifeless body to their bedroom. The biological family said the brother was only 12 years old. But court documents make it clear that she was crucial in helping police piece together the timeline of events surrounding Isabella’s death.

Police said Isabella was last seen by surveillance cameras at the home on August 18, according to the documents. It was on or around this date that the 6-year-old was allegedly killed.

However, the couple did not report the little girl’s disappearance until about a month later, in mid-September.

In a Nov. 5 interview with police, the older brother said around 3:30 a.m. on the day she last saw Isabella in the house, the Kaluas went to see the girl in the bathroom and she was off. life.

“(The brother) knows (Isabella) died because she was there. (The sister) said she was there because her parents woke her up,” the complaint said.

“After she was awakened, she went to the bathroom and saw that (Isabella) had duct tape on her nose and mouth and was not breathing. Lehua then filled the tub with water and put (Isabella) in it to see if she would wake up, but it didn’t work.

“(The brother) then had to help carry (Isabella) to their room.”

The brother did not know where the couple then put Isabella’s body, according to the documents.

According to the complaint, Isabella’s older brother also told police that the Kaluas had made an effort to “get rid of the elements … the evidence” by inventing a ruse that allowed Isaac Kalua to be absent from work for weeks.

In a series of lies, Isaac Kalua claimed to have COVID and even sought medical attention.

He told police he was on leave on August 20 and “woke up feeling sick” on August 21, went to the emergency room for treatment and had been seen for possible symptoms of COVID. He then took about two weeks off.

This series of events is significant because it was around this time that investigators believe the couple disposed of Isabella’s body.

“Isaac went to Kaiser to ‘pretend he was COVID’,” the brother and sister told police, court documents said. “(The brother) said she knew Isaac was pretending because she knew he had stopped working to” help mum. “When asked why Isaac would need to help his mum, (brother or sister) replied “to get rid of this stuff … evidence”.

In another troubling allegation, the brother and sister told police Lehua Kalua purchased the dog crate over the internet even though the family did not have a dog at the time. The brother said Kalua got the cage because the 6-year-old girl “sneaked in at night and wanted to eat because she was hungry.”

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The girl was hungry, said the brother, because she was not fed.

“So Lehua bought the cage to keep (Isabella) there overnight,” the complaint said. The brother added that “she thinks the duct tape is from Isaac’s work.”

The Kaluas reported Isabella’s disappearance on September 13, sparking a massive multi-agency search that also included hundreds of community members and the girl’s biological family.

The adoptive parents claimed to have last seen the girl the day before. Lehua Kalua told officers the family had dinner together and the girl went to bed.

The adoptive mother also told police that the 6-year-old girl was out “every day or every other day and she would say she was waiting for her mother to pick her up.”

According to the police, these were all lies.

In addition to the ongoing police investigation, Isabella’s death will certainly raise questions about the state’s actions in placing her with the Kaluas. Hawaii News Now reported that Kalua had twice suffered serious injuries in the past two years that were reported to child protection services.

The incidents were investigated and a panel determined that there had been no mistreatment.

This story will be updated.

Copyright 2021 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

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