A man has been convicted by the court over the brutal murder of another man in 2015 at Nine-Mile, Port Moresby, after a trial was conducted at the Waigani National Court.
Justice Panuel Mogish found Gibbson Maraen guilty for brutally chopping Wari Kuni on his face and head on 10 December 2015, which resulted in his death.
The two were among a group of men who consumed alcohol that day when a fight broke out at 3pm. He went home soon after.
At around 6pm, he left the house and attacked Kuni with an axe. The deceased tried to tackle Maraen but slipped and fell in the process.
Maraen swung the axe at the deceased, cutting him on the right side of his face, right side ear and the left side of his face on the fourth occasion.
He left the axe imbedded in the head of the deceased, uttering the words “Pikinini blo Michael Somare, yu go lo heven nau”, before giving a thumbs up as he walked away and got into a white car.
Maraen told the court during the trial he acted in self-defense.
It was a case of who to believe and the court believed the evidence of eyewitness, Joyce Kuno, the sister of the deceased. She had followed him out the house that afternoon after the fight earlier.
The court rejected Maraen’s evidence of self-defense.
“I accept the evidence of Joyce that the deceased was unarmed immediately before he was struck on his face with an axe.
“Did the accused intend to kill the deceased? The answer is yes. Soon after he chopped the deceased, he uttered the words to the effect. He then did a thumbs up before walking away,” Justice Mogish said in his decision.
Justice Mogish also said Maraen had intentions to kill and were inferred from the multiplicity of the wounds and locations of the wounds to the face.
Maraen remains remanded at Bomana and he will return to court on Friday, where his lawyer and state prosecutors will address the court on submissions on sentence.