Press Release
Anchorage Jury Convicts Al Apaola Leafa Jr. of Two Murders
April 21, 2023
(Anchorage, AK) – Yesterday, an Anchorage jury returned guilty verdicts for Al Apaola Leafa Jr. for the deaths of Randy Ropati, 28, and Kikono Savo, 38, in separate shootings in Anchorage in 2020.
Leafa Jr. was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, and tampering with physical evidence.
On the morning of Nov. 21, 2020, Leafa Jr. walked into an apartment on North Lane in Mountain View around 10:30 a.m. and opened fire on a young man. He shot Randy Ropait five times with a .357 revolver before walking out the front door. Less than an hour later, Leafa walked into another apartment several blocks away and shot a woman, Kikono Savo, in the chest with the same revolver. Video from neighboring cameras showed the defendant leaving each residence a minute after each shooting.
Leafa Jr. faces a sentence of 30 to 99 years on each of the murders. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 24, 2023, before Superior Court Judge Peter Ramgren.
CONTACT: Anchorage Deputy District Attorney, Trina Sears, at (907) 269-6300 or trina.sears@alaska.gov.
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Department Media Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.
Due to resource constraints, we no longer post links to referenced records. Records filed in a federal court are readily available at Docket Search or PACER, and records filed in a State of Alaska court are readily available from the Alaska Court System (Trial Courts - Alaska Court System and Search for an Appellate Case). Contact Sam Curtis to request a referenced record that is not readily available from a court or on the internet, or contact law.recordsrequest@alaska.gov to submit a formal Alaska Public Records Act request.