Police v Toetu [2015] WSSC 117 (31 March 2015)

THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
Police v Toetu [2015] WSSC 117

Case name:	Police v Toetu
Citation:	[2015] WSSC 117
Decision date:	31 March 2015
Parties:	Police (prosecution) and Elisaia Toetu, male of Vaitele-fou and Foailalo Savaii (defendant)
Hearing date(s):	31 March 2015
File number(s):
Jurisdiction:	CRIMINAL
Place of delivery:	Supreme Court, Mulinuu
Judge(s):	Justice Aitken
On appeal from:
Order:	Life imprisonment may only apply for parole after minimum 10 years
Representation:	L Su’a-Mailo for the Prosecution F Niumata and T V Lei Sam for the Defendant
Catchwords:	murder – intentional damage – arson – strangled to death –no prior conviction – ifoga –
Words and phrases:
Legislation cited:	Crimes Act 2013 s 183.
Cases cited:
Summary of decision:

THE SUPREME COURT OF SAMOA
HELD AT MULINUU

BETWEEN:

P O L I C E
Prosecution

AND:

ELISALA TOETU
male of Vaitele-fou and Foailalo Savaii
Defendant

Counsel:
L Su’a-Mailo for the Prosecution
F Niumata and T V Lei Sam for the Defendant

Hearing: 31 March 2015

Sentence: 31 March 2015

ORAL REASONS AND SENTENCE OF JUSTICE E M AITKEN

1. Elisala Toetu, you have pleaded guilty to two charges: one of murder by an unlawful act, and one of intentionally damaging a residential home by fire. These are very serious offences and before I sentence you, I will record the facts that lead to the sentence.
2. You and the young woman, who is now dead, were second cousins and, at the time of the offending, you were living in the same household as her, that being the home of her parents. You had, in fact, joined the family to assist with the building of the house and once the house was complete the deceased’s parents left you and her in the house and they returned to New Zealand. You were in the house, in part, to look after your cousin, whom you then regarded as a sister.
3. On 19 October last year, you went with the deceased and her then boyfriend or fiancé and the three of you had a few drinks at the Marist Club. You and she were dropped back at your home by her fiancé at about 7:30 at night and he left you both there to spend the night with his parents. What is particularly tragic, one of the many things in this case, is that it would appear that he had most often slept over at the deceased home but made the decision on this occasion not to do so. The deceased went into her bedroom that evening and watched a movie on her laptop and you entered the room, sat down on the bed and attempted to hug her. Ms Sione became very cross with you, furious with you, chased you out of her bedroom and threatened to report you to her parents for that behaviour. She then locked her bedroom and fell asleep but left her laptop and lights in the bedroom on.
4. It seems you sat yourself outside of her bedroom door, contemplating or wondering whether you should go back into the room, and in the early hours of Sunday 19 October, while she was asleep, you located a spare key and unlocked her bedroom door and went in. You then strangled her by using both your hands on her neck and then using her lavalava to ensure that she had stopped breathing. At that point, you committed her murder. You then connected both her laptop and the iron to the double socket in the room, you left them on; you went and gathered some newspaper which you then spread around the floor in her bedroom; you set fire to that newspaper and the fire eventually burnt, not only the young woman who was by then dead but spread to the rest of the house consuming most of the interior part of it.
5. At about 5 minutes to 3 in the morning, the neighbours saw the house burning and notified the Fire Department, and a few minutes later you went next door to a newsprint company and sought their help, saying that your cousin was in the house and needed to be rescued. The Fire Brigade attended the scene and by the time the fire was put out, the concrete structure of the house was intact but the iron roof had already started to cave in. When the Police attended the scene, they found the remains of the deceased in her room amongst the rubble.
6. Despite her being significantly burnt and unrecognizable, the post mortem was able to be conducted and the doctor reported evidence of strangulations and evidence of the fact of death prior to the start of the fire.
7. You were interviewed later that day and subsequently charged with the two offences now before the Court. You have now pleaded guilty to both charges and I would have to observe, Mr Toetu, that that is a most unusual event for someone to plead guilty to murder prior to trial. However, I understand you also made admissions to the Police about what had happened and I acknowledge your plea of guilty and the obvious remorse that you feel for your actions – by pleading guilty, by owning up for your conduct, you have done all that you could do having committed this appalling offence.
8. You were 21 years old at the time of this offence. You have no prior convictions and while your parents, I understand, do not live in the country, I am told that your uncle is present in Court and you have, to some extent, some family support. While there has not been any formal apology or customary ifoga process, I understand that you have expressed your deepest apologies to the victim’s family.
9. However, despite your plea of guilty and your obvious remorse, the law is very clear. In light of your pleas of guilty to those charges, convictions are entered to murder and arson, and pursuant to section 183 of the Crimes Act 2013, I impose now the mandatory life term of imprisonment in respect of the charge of murder.
10. In respect of the charge of arson, that is a separate offence and it carries a maximum penalty of 14 years. This was very deliberate fire setting, done to conceal a heinous crime, that caused a significant amount of damage and would attract a starting point of 10 years imprisonment – but in light of your plea of guilty and your honesty to the Police, the end point sentence, in my view, would be one of 7 years, and that sentence of 7 years will run concurrently – in other words, at the same time as the mandatory life term.
11. So Mr Toetu, you are sentenced now to life imprisonment and the law provides that you are not eligible to apply for parole for a minimum period of 10 years. Whether you are granted parole at that point will be a matter for the Parole Board.

You may stand down.

_____________________
JUSTICE E M AITKEN