Wife beater who threatened to kill her will serve no further jail time

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 46-year-old man from Samoa convicted of assaulting his wife and threatening to kill her during a domestic dispute received a huge break from the court last week, when the court released him from custody to seek gainful employment to care for his wife and children.

[Samoa News is withholding the defendant’s name, to protect the identity of his wife, the victim.]

The defendant who has been in custody since his arrest unable to post a $10,000 surety bond, appeared in court last week for sentencing. He was represented by Assistant Public Defender Rob McNeill, while Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey prosecuted.

The defendant, a father of 4, was initially charged with one count of second-degree assault, felonious restraint, and public peace disturbance.

But under a plea agreement with the government, he pled guilty to second-degree assault, a class D felony, punishable by terms of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both.

With his guilty plea, the defendant admits that on the night of May 12, 2019, he had planned to drive his wife to the far west side and kill her, but everything went south after the woman jumped out of their moving vehicle and was rescued on the road in Leone.

The defendant further admits that while he was driving the vehicle with his wife sitting in the passenger’s seat, he assaulted his wife by punching her in the face causing injuries to her left eye and mouth.

When given the chance to address the court, the defendant apologized to the court for his actions and immediately begged for a second chance to return home and care for his wife and children. The defendant told the court that he loves his wife very much, however, everything went wrong that night when he heard rumors that his wife was having an affair with a bus driver.

“The only reason I came to American Samoa is to look for a better future for my parents who are living in our family home in Samoa. However, God blessed me with a beautiful wife and 4 precious children,” the defendant said with tears in his eye.

The defendant continued, “Everything was perfect in our family since the 19 years of our marriage until last year when I heard rumors that my wife was unfaithful to me and our children.”

The defendant told the court that what he did was a terrible mistake because he wanted to take the law into his own hands. He told the court that he’s truly remorseful for his action and wanted to go back home to continue working on his plantation to provide for his family.

The defense attorney asked the court for a probated sentence for his client. McNeill told the court that his client made a big mistake and he admitted to what he did.

The government’s attorney echoed the recommendation by both Probation and the defense attorney to sentence the defendant to a probated sentence.

The defendant was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of $2,000. Execution of sentence is suspended and the defendant is placed on probation for 5 years subject to several conditions.

The defendant was ordered to serve a period of detention of 20 months at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) and credited for the 9 months he served while waiting the outcome of his case. The balance of his detention is stayed until further order of the court, meaning, the defendant was released from custody after he received his sentence last week.

Upon release from detention, the defendant was ordered to immediately depart the territory and remain outside of the its jurisdiction for the period of his probation. This condition is also stayed until further order of the court.

The defendant was ordered not to be verbally or physically abusive to his wife and children, again, nor to do any threatening behavior against his family.

“This is your last chance to remain in American Samoa. If you want to continue living in American Samoa with your wife and children, you need to change your attitude, or otherwise, you will end up on the other side of the shore,” the court advised the defendant.

BACKGROUND

According to the court, the victim and her husband got into a verbal argument over rumors that she was having an affair with a bus driver. They were in their vehicle at the time heading to the western end of the island.

In addition, the defendant was intoxicated and the argument became more intense. The man became very angry to the point where he was overtaking two cars at a time on the road. The victim kept asking her husband where they were heading, but he kept telling her to wait and see what was going to happen to them both.

The victim asked her husband to stop the car and let her out, and she also asked him to turn the car around and head home. Nonetheless, the defendant kept driving westward. As the vehicle entered Leone, according to what the court was told, the man told his wife that what she did was shameful and embarrassing, and he’s going to beat her, kill her, and leave her body in the ocean where no one would ever find it.

The victim told investigators that since they’ve been married, she’s never heard her husband speak this way and she was afraid that he was going to kill her.

It was when the defendant slowed down, because of a speed bump that the victim jumped out of the vehicle. She then flagged down a car that was behind them.

The driver just happened to be a friend of the victim’s father.

The witness stopped her vehicle and got out, while her niece (who was in the car) called police. As the witness approached the victim, the defendant walked towards the two women and grabbed his wife by the hand, pulling her back to their car. The victim resisted and cried out for help to the witness, who was able to talk the defendant into letting her drive the victim home.

The defendant left and the victim was dropped off at the Leone Substation.