Domestic violence cases becoming common incidents — Alcohol & infidelity the usual culprits

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Domestic violence cases involving the beating and abuse of wives, girlfriends, and in some cases husbands by their spouse or partner, at their homes, is one of the rising offenses in the territory over the last two months. Often, alcohol is involved, sometimes drugs, as well as infidelity or alleged infidelity causing jealousy.

Take the incident involving a couple in Ottoville, which happened around 4:12p.m. Monday afternoon where the defendant allegedly assaulted his wife, who was talking to her boyfriend, outside of their home.

An elderly couple who witnessed the incident when their vehicle passed by the area called police for assistance. The couple, later interviewed by police, stated that as they traveled through the area to go to Iiili, they were shocked to see a young woman fall on the ground when a man punched her in the face outside of their house.

The young woman and the man were later identified by police as husband and wife.

The elderly couple told police that once they saw what happened, they immediately pulled their vehicle over in front of another house in the area, where they exited their vehicle to offer help to the woman.

Before they got to the area where the woman had fallen, the elderly woman called the police on her phone.

As they approached the young woman, who was still lying on the ground, the man, who was standing behind her kicked her in the back twice. The elderly couple both yelled out to the man to stop what he was doing because the police were on their way.

The man then walked away from where the woman was lying before police arrived. The woman, who was later identified as the 28-year old victim, was bleeding from both her mouth and nose. EMS was also contacted for medical assistance, but the victim refused to go to the LBJ Hospital for further treatment.

According to the victim, she was speaking to her boyfriend who she works with at the cannery when her husband walked up to them from nowhere and immediately assaulted her.

The victim told police that her husband assaulted her from behind by slapping her chin, which caused her head to hit the house cement post very hard. It was at that time her boyfriend who as sitting beside her stood up and fled the scene.

The victim also told police that her husband had threatened to kill her. For her own safety, the victim requested that police detain her husband and not allow him back home.

The couple rents a house in Ottoville.

The victim provided police with her husband’s cell phone, which made it easier for police to contact the defendant, who was told to come to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) police station to discuss the matter.

Around 6:43p.m on the same day, the defendant walked in to the TPS and provided his side of the story, and where he was later booked and confined at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF), after being interviewed by police.

When asked by police, the defendant stated that he was very pissed off when his female cousin who worked with his wife at the cannery called his cell phone and informed him that his wife was seen with another man on the road in front of their house.

The defendant is a carpenter, and he was working in Nu’uuli when he received the phone call from his cousin around 3:12p.m.

He then left his job, jumped on a bus and headed to their home to check on his wife. According to the defendant, he was shocked to see his wife standing close together with another man while talking on the road in front of their home. It was around 3:12p.m. when he received the call, but it was around 4:32p.m. when he got there — almost 2 hours had passed, but his wife was still there with this man.

Out of anger, he then assaulted his wife. The defendant told police that he was intoxicated when he committed the offense.

After his initial appearance, the defendant was remanded to custody until he posts a $1,000 bond, subject to the condition that he is not to have any direct or indirect contact with his wife. The defendant is scheduled to appear in court on month for his pretrial conference.

AUA

Then there is the case that happened in Aua, where the husband accused his wife of having an affair, while they were watching TV, according to the wife.

The man allegedly pushed his wife's face twice before the woman became angry, exited their home, and contacted police for help.

The victim told police it was her husband who started the verbal argument, when he mentioned something about her going out with another man. Her husband also accused her for giving their money to a taxi driver for sexual activity.

She said she tried to explain but her husband didn't want to hear it.

He then allegedly pulled her hair, slapped her twice in the face before pushing her towards the wall.

When asked by police, the defendant admitted that he had assaulted his wife and immediately begged for a chance to go home. However, for the safety of the victim, the defendant was booked and confined at the TCF to await the next sitting of District Court.

After his initial appearance, the defendant was released on his own recognizance to await his next court appearance, which is now scheduled for next month for his pretrial conference.

In 2019, the defendant was placed on probation for 12 months after being convicted of assaulting the same victim.

TAFUNA

And finally there is the incident that happened on a Tuesday night: A woman called the TPS for assistance, after her daughter was allegedly assaulted by her husband. The officers arrived shortly thereafter and a woman, who was later identified as the mother of the victim explained the incident to police.

According to the victim’s mother, she was at their other house when she heard her daughter screaming for help from the house where she stays with her husband and three young children. She rushed to offer help to her daughter, but when she arrived, she saw her son-in-law (defendant) was choking his wife (victim) with one hand, while he was holding a kitchen knife in his other hand. According to the victim’s mother, her son-in-law was pointing the knife straight at his wife’s throat.

Her son-in-law then left the house and ran outside into the dark when he heard her yell at him. As he ran away, he yelled out to his wife (victim) saying that he would kill her when he came back home.

When interviewed by police, the victim claims that her husband cussed at her and accused her of using him to feed her family, and he knew that she is having an affair with another man in their village.

The victim told police that as she was trying to calm her husband down, he started throwing punches at her in front of their young children. She pushed him away but he grabbed a cooking knife and put it to her throat while choking her using his other hand. For her safety, the victim then requested police to detain her husband because he threatened to assault her again when he comes home.

The defendant was later apprehended by police after which, he was booked and confined at the TCF.

After his initial appearance, the defendant was remanded to custody until he can post a $1,000 bond, subject to the condition that he is not have any direct or indirect contact with his wife.

He’s scheduled to appear in court next month for his pretrial conference.

For the three different incidents, three men were arrested, and made their initial appearances last week in District Court, where Judge Fiti Sunia released one man on his own recognizance while the other two were remanded to custody on $1,000 bond each.

Each man is being charged with public peace disturbance and third degree assault, both class A misdemeanors, punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of $1,000, or both.