Murder

Tongan man jailed for brutal murder of partner in Hamilton apartment

Pita Vi, 59, was jailed after he was found guilty of beating Georgina Ngataki with both arms while she was saying “don’t”.

Kaniva News reports the 55-year-old mother and grandmother suffered massive head injuries.

Vi’s actions were labelled “cold blooded” and “callous” from the afternoon of September 22, 2021, in which he left his partner, Georgina Ngataki, to die on the floor of her Wellington St flat, surrounded in blood after a brutal attack, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Alex Murdaugh verdict: Disgraced lawyer guilty of killing wife and son

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Alex Murdaugh, 54, guilty of two counts of murder at the end of a six-week trial.

BBC reports he faces 30 years to life in prison without parole for each murder charge.

Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were shot at close range near the dog kennels on their family estate.

Alex Murdaugh stood impassively as he learned his fate during Thursday evening's hearing in Walterboro.

US court upholds death sentence for Tongan inmate on death row

The decision came after the protest of two justices that the trial judge prejudicially erred in disallowing testimony at the penalty phase of an eyewitness who recalls the shooter as being slim, which fits the description of the codefendant, while the appellant weighs in excess of 300 pounds.

No arrests yet in the 2020 murder of Tongan woman in the US

Salt Lake Investigators discovered 42-year-old Kaufusi had been shot on August 2020.

Police have treated the suspicious death as a homicide.

Kaufusi’s body was discovered by a jogger about a half mile east of Saltair near an I-80 frontage road. She had been deceased “at least several days,” reports said.

Her family has raised concerns about the case.

“Nothing,” Makalita Ofa, her aunt, said. “Nothing at all”, reported KSL.com.

Doctor in New Caledonia denies planning to kill love rival

Olivier Peres, who oversaw the orthopaedic department at Noumea's public hospital, gunned down Eric Martinez on a golf course four years ago.

Peres said Martinez had an affair with his wife, had threatened his family and boasted that as a member of the French military commando, he had killed people, including children.

The court heard however that Martinez didn't belong to any such unit.

Days before the killing, Peres and his wife had contacted the police, expressing fear after undue pressure from Martinez, whom Peres described in court as a narcissistic pervert.

Fiji court finds man guilty of murdering 5 people

Mohammed Raheesh Isoof was convicted this afternoon after Justice Thushara Rajasinghe ruled that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Isoof had killed the family of five in August 2019.

Isoof was charged with five counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

The bodies of a 63-year-old carpenter, Nirmal Kumar, his 54-year-old wife, Usha Devi, their 34-year-old daughter, Nileshni Kajal and Kajal's two daughters aged 11 and 8 years were discovered in the Nausori Highlands about 28km out of Nadi.

Oscar Pistorius: Reeva Steenkamp's parents to meet her killer

Reeva Steenkamp's parents are preparing to meet Pistorius.

It is part of a process that could lead to his eventual release on parole.

The South African athlete has been moved to a prison closer to Barry and June Steenkamp to enable the meeting to go ahead.

Pistorius has served half his 13 years and five months sentence, handed to him for the 2013 Valentine's Day killing.

Guilty plea entered in murder case of Tongan human rights activist

Inoke Siolongo Filivaolelei Tonga was arrested and charged with Poli Kefu's death in May.

The 27-year-old pleaded guilty at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court on Thursday.

He will be sentenced on October 6th.

Matangi Tonga reported Poli Kefu died after being hit with a rock.

It said Poli Kefu, who hailed from Lapaha, was not only a respected Tonga Red Cross communications officer, but was president of the Tonga Leitis Association.

He was also recognised for his work as a LGBTQIA+ rights advocate in Tonga and the region.

Tonga royals deny Australia horse trainer murder link

It comes after an Australian tabloid published claims that the late Tongan king and a former diplomat helped to conceal the killing of George Brown.

Australian police believe Mr Brown was tortured and murdered in 1984 by members of the horseracing community.

The case, which rocked the industry, has never been solved.

Mr Brown's body had been found in a burnt car in bushland south of Sydney, with signs that he had been assaulted before his death.

No bail for man accused of killing Tongan seasonal worker in NZ

The 34-year-old accused has been remanded in custody until September.

Kaniva News reports Lynch was in New Zealand as an RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employer) worker before he died in an alleged stabbing on Market St on 20 June in central Blenheim.

Police believe the fatality came after an altercation between the Tongan RSE workers and some Rebel gang members from outside the region.

Lynch had been out celebrating a friend’s birthday. Two other Tongan men were wounded and hospitalised at Blenheim’s Wairau Hospital.