Four men from Chimbu Province were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment by the National Court in Lae yesterday for willfully murdering a final year Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech) student in 2008.
The four men were identified as Wiom Ku’u Wione, 54, and married with four children, Peter Michael, 24, and single, Alex Omili, 36, and married with two children and Sul Wemen, 26, and also married with two children.
The National Court in Lae slapped a 30 years imprisonment with hard labor on the four under Section 299 of the Criminal Code for the willful murder of Bonnie Ipi, a final year Architect student at Unitech.
The four men were employed by a local security firm that was engaged by the university to provide security service at the time of the offense.
The court heard that on June 28, 2008, around 12 midnight and 2.30am, the deceased, after drinking with some friends at the 140 Club in Tent City, returned to the campus by climbing over the perimeter fence.
It heard that the deceased was confronted by two security guards and after questioning him, an argument arose when the victim allegedly swore at the guards under the influence of alcohol. This prompted the guards to assault the deceased and called for help when the four convicts, who were manning the main entrance, arrived at the scene and continued the assault.
Autopsy report presented before the court showed that the death resulted from traumatic head injuries from stab wound to the right temporal scalp and muscles with linear depressed fracture on the temporal skull. The report revealed that the deceased also sustained neck injuries from fractured and dislocated cervical spine.
Presiding judge, Justice Sao Gabi when handing down the sentence, said he had considered the attack on the deceased to be a vicious one, which indicated that there was a strong desire to kill.
The nature of the injuries and the multiplicity of such injuries indicate the viciousness of the attack and the desire to kill. A lot of force is needed to break the neck of a person and in this care, the injuries were serious and the neck was broken.
Justice Gabi
The judge said the life of a young man in his prime was prematurely terminated in a tragic and barbaric manner which was a loss not only to the family but to the nation because of so much investment in his education.
Life is precious and must be valued and respected and no one has a right to take another person’s life unless authorized by law.
Gabi
Justice Gabi said having regard all the circumstances of the case, he had reached the conclusion that this was not an appropriate case for death penalty.