Court documents released Monday indicate that 26-year-old Jacob Le of Kapahulu admitted to stabbing 23-year-old Brent Kanae to death on Oct. 3.

Le was arrested on Oct. 18 around 3:40 p.m. and charged the next day.

According to court documents released on his initial court appearance Monday, Le told police that he approached Kanae from behind and "stabbed Kanae three times in the chest and the fled back upstairs."

That was in a second interview with police after, the documents say, Le had initially denied any involvement with Kanae's death.

Witnesses quoted in the documents added that before Kanae was found dead Le "was in the immediate area asking where Kanae was."

Le made his initial court appearance in District Court Monday morning, where his 2nd degree murder charges were read and his $250,000 bail confirmed. He continues to be held in police custody at Oahu Community Correctional Center.

He will be back in court on Wednesday.

A friend of the Le family who was in court Monday declined to be interviewed on camera, but says he believes police pressured Le to confess to something he didn't do.

Kanae was found bleeding in a makai stairwell near Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. at Ala Moana Center around about 3 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 3.

The medical examiner said he died from wounds to his heart and lungs.