BY JENNIFER KUSAPA
THE man accused of killing a Chinese woman at her shop at the White Angel Building, Point Cruz in 2021 has pleaded guilty to murder yesterday.
This is the case of Max Gosia Taiga of Malaita province; he is facing one count of murder in relation to the murder incident on April 13, 2021.
His case was supposed to go on trial yesterday however before the trial started, he was re-arraigned and he entered a guilty plea.
His matter will be called again in court on September 9 for submission on minimum term sentence. This will be the time that the court will impose a sentence term for him to serve before he can be eligible for parole.
The deceased is Li Meng Chen (Lisa) and she was a Chinese national and was 44 years old at the time of her death. The deceased was the owner of Wai Hai Shop.
Prosecution said on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, the deceased arrived at her shop and entered between 8am and 8.30am.
Prosecution said the husband of the deceased received a phone call from his wife a while later, she was calling for help since a person had attacked her.
The deceased’s husband having received the call allegedly rushed down to the shop in his vehicle but found the back door locked.
He then allegedly accessed the shop through the neighbouring shop but found his wife already dead.
The deceased was found lying dead on the floor of her shop.
Prosecution said according to Dr Roy Maraka he confirmed that the deceased died from exsanguination as a result of severed left internal jugular vein due to a stab wound to the left side of the neck. The exsanguination resulted from the large cut on the internal jugular vein. The deceased had abrasions on her neck indicating manual strangulation on the neck. There was laceration on the left side of the head, and an incision wound at the back of the head.
The Police took a statement from the Accused on April 13, 2021; he was then released afterwards and subsequently escaped to his home village. He was later voluntarily handed over by his own parent to the police and was remanded until today.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Andrew Kelesi and Vernon Taupongi of the Office of the Director Public Prosecution appears for the crown while Ben Alasia of the Public Solicitor’s office represents the accused.
ENDS//
