57yo gets 23 years for killing man over pig

A 57-year-old man from Kairuku district in the Central province has been sentenced to 23 years in prison after he killed another man over a dead pig.

Allan Aiso was convicted by the Bomana National Court on Oct 24 for the murder of George Evi on May 5, 2015, at Aipeana village, Kairuku district.

He was found guilty of hurling a spear-knife at Evi’s chest after he found him standing next to his dead pig in the garden.

Justice Panuel Mogish, sentencing him to 25 years’ imprisonment this week, deducted one year, six months from that sentence. This was due to time he spent in remand at Bomana. Aiso will now serve a remaining 23 years and six months in prison.

“The life of a human being is much more valuable than a pig or any living thing or non-living creature,” Justice Mogish said.    

Aiso was previously convicted 27 years ago for murder, which he was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment by the Waigani National Court.

“It is clear to me that the offender has not fully rehabilitated himself. He is prone to violence and to some extent, poses a danger to society,” Justice Mogish said.

“This is the second time he has killed a human being. Life is precious. The sanity of life must be valued and protected at all cost.

“Anyone who takes away the life of another person under unconstitutional and unlawful circumstances must be expected to be imprisoned for a long time to demonstrate the court’s denunciation of these kind of crimes,” he added.

The killing incident on May 5, 2015, took place in front of the deceased’s uncle, Paul Auki, whose statement was used as evidence by the state in prosecuting Aiso.

Aiso found the deceased and Auki standing next to his dead pig. He was armed at that time and immediately hurled the spear at the deceased.

The deceased (Evi) and his uncle, Auki, walked over to a relative’s garden around 6am that day to investigate the noise of a pig in distress near their block.

They found the pig, which appeared to have been killed earlier. The accused, armed with a bush knife and spear knife, also arrived at the site with his son.

Upon his arrival, Aiso launched his spear at Evi without enquiring about the pig. The spear penetrated his left chest and he fell to the ground while his uncle, Auki, in fear of also being attacked, ran off to alert the others.

The deceased’s wife came to the garden and saw Aiso forcefully extracting his spear from Evi’s chest.

Medical evidence agreed with Auki’s statement; that the deceased was stabbed with a knife (spear knife) and later cut on his left arm with a knife.

Author: 
Sally Pokiton