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SALT LAKE CITY — A shoe print left on a door that was kicked in. DNA collected from a cigarette butt left in an apartment.
These items of forensic evidence are helping Salt Lake police homicide detectives solve the 2019 killing of 27-year-old Kathryn Blaire Leavitt, according to newly unsealed court documents.
On July 27, 2019, police received a call of a door being kicked in at an apartment at 1211 N. Redwood Road and a possible burglary in progress. But while officers were en route, they were told that shots had been fired. They arrived to discover that Leavitt had been shot as her roommate hid in a closet in another room. Leavitt died from her injuries at a local hospital. An autopsy determined that Leavitt had been shot twice.
In February, Salt Lake police held a press conference to publicly announce, for the first time, the names of six suspects believed to have had some involvement in the killing: Lachelle Fiefia, 36; Katoa Pahulu, 26; Sunia Cavazos, 22; Tevita Kofutua, 37; Mapilivai Laulea, 26; and Timote Fonua, 41.
A week later, Fiefia, of West Jordan, was arrested and charged in 3rd District Court with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, for allegedly driving two of the suspects to California after the killing.
Then in March, police announced that Pahulu had surrendered to officers with the Maui Police Department after a warrant was issued for his arrest. That arrest warrant was sealed, however, and details about his involvement in the case were not revealed.
Since then, the charging documents for Pahulu were unsealed in 3rd District Court. He is charged with murder and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies; and obstructing justice, a second-degree felony.
The charging documents also list Fonua as a co-defendant. But as of Wednesday, no formal charges had been filed against Fonua.
Leavitt's roommate was interviewed by police after the shooting. She said she was awakened about 6:30 a.m. by noise in the apartment. She found five men she did not know, plus Leavitt, in the apartment, according to charging documents. She told the men to be quiet and then went back to bed. She later had to ask the men a second time to be quiet so she could sleep, and then a third time.
According to one witness, during the third time she asked the men to be quiet, she also threatened the men that she would have "other gang members come over" and take care of the problem, according to charging documents.
At that point, some of the men began to escort the rest of their group out, the charges state. But not long after that, the roommate told police she heard the front door being forced open, followed by two gunshots.
A witness told police that Fonua was seen getting into a vehicle with a gun in his waistband following the shooting, according to the charges.
Detectives collected a shoe print off the front of the door as well as cigarette butts and beer cans from a patio area, the charges state. Two bullet holes were found in the walls inside the apartment.
The shoe print was consistent with the sole of the type of shoes Pahulu was seen wearing that night, the charges allege.
Police say the roommate later identified Fonua, Kofutua and Laulea as being in her apartment.
When questioned, Fiefia told police she had been at Leavitt's apartment earlier that night with Pahulu, Kofutua and Lauelea. After the shooting, she is accused of driving Pahulu and Lauelea to California. Pahulu made statements while driving to California that Leavitt "dropped like a bull," the charges state.
Salt Lake police first questioned Fonua in San Mateo, California, in August. At that time, he claimed he had not been in Utah for nearly three years. However, DNA collected from a cigarette butt matched with fresh DNA samples collected from Fonua, according to the charges.
Formal charges and an arrest warrant for Pahulu were filed in 3rd District Court under seal on March 16.
