Late Ruby Anne Laufa

Richard Jason Namaliu chose to take the witness stand today, after being cautioned by the trial judge of his options in the manslaughter trial against him.

He told the court he “waited three years to give” his story, highlighting their relationship as like any other.

Sitting at the witness box for an hour and 20 minutes, Namaliu told the court the late Ruby Anne was violent, screaming and kicking him in the vehicle during the short ride from her father’s house at the University housing estate to the road leading up to the first university gate.

On Friday, prosecution closed its case with the eighth witnesses, the country’s chief pathologist, Dr Seth Fose’s evidence.

The state’s last witness’ evidence was in relation to the post mortem examination that he conducted on the late Ruby Anne Laufa on 13 February 2017; two days after her death.

During the trial, the prosecution called in three witnesses who saw the couple on the morning of 11 February 2017 – two Uniforce Security personnel of UPNG, a close friend and father of the deceased – to the stand.

The country’s chief pathologist is expected to take the stand as a prosecution witness.

The trial against Richard Namaliu continued before the Waigani National Court on September 26^th after its commencement on September 25^th.

Yesterday morning, trial judge Justice Teresa Berrigan gave her ruling on the admissibility of evidence from the sixth witness – one of late Ruby-Anne Laufa’s close friends.

Monika Anio, who recently graduated with a law degree from UPNG, will receive the much-needed support to pursue her Legal Training Institute (LTI) studies so that she can be admitted to the bar as a lawyer.

During the announcement, the 23-year-old from Bukawa, in Morobe Province, thanked the committee for considering her a worthy recipient of the Ruby Anne Laufa Memorial Scholarship.