Murder accused to take plea 

Murder accused to take plea 

THE man accused of the murder of a man at the Nazareth Apostolic Centre (NAC) area in Central Guadalcanal in August will take his plea to the allegation next Monday.

A comitial hearing will be also conducted that day.

The defendant Michael Manei is facing one count of Murder.

He was studying Theology at NAC at the time of the offence, whilst the 50-year-old deceased was residing with his uncle at NAC.

On the evening of 21 August, it was alleged that the defendant who was intoxicated had an argument with another man.

The deceased was fetching water from a nearby well when he heard the defendant and the other person arguing.

It was alleged that the deceased then swore at the defendant and told him to leave else he would be killed.

The defendant got angry and allegedly ran back to his dormitory and got hold of a bush knife and returned to the deceased and allegedly argued with him and challenged him for a fight. Then the defendant chased the deceased around the area.

The prosecution alleged that the deceased whilst running away slipped on a muddy spot and fell and the defendant allegedly cut both of the deceased’s arms with the bush knife.

Thereafter, the defendant fled the scene, whilst the deceased ran back to the house with his severely injured arms and died a few minutes later.

The matter was reported to the police the next day and the defendant was arrested on August 23.

By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN

Solomon Star, Honiara