Case of attempted murder by fire bound over to the High Court

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of burning his friend’s house with the intention of killing him and his uncle told police that the reason he planned to murder his friend and his uncle was to pay back what his friend had done to him — consistently lying to him and borrowing money from him without paying it back.

The man, Natia Latu made his initial appearance in Court last month.

He is charged with one count of attempted murder in the second degree (domestic violence), a class B felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than fifteen years; one count of 1st degree arson (domestic violence), a class C felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to seven years, a fine of up to $5,000 but not less than $150, pursuant to 47.0402, or both.

Bail is set at $25,000.

Latu appeared in District Court two weeks ago for his preliminary hearing, however, he waived his rights to a PX and his case was bound over to High Court for further proceedings.

Last week, Latu appeared in High Court for an arraignment where he entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him. Latu’s first pretrial conference is set for Mar. 26, while his jury trial is now scheduled for June 2026.

THE CASE

On Jan. 13, 2022 at about 10:20p.m, a man contacted the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) reporting a fire in a residence located in Tafuna. Several police officers responded to the call and observed a house on fire.

Officers met up with the man who reported the incident and interviewed him about what happened. While officers were speaking with the reporter, a man approached officers and identified himself as the owner of the residence. Officers also interviewed him.

On the same date at about 10:49p.m, a male individual contacted the TPS and informed police officers that a house was on fire in the Tafuna area and two people are inside the burning house.

The man who called the TPS was later identified as Natia Latu, the defendant in this matter. Latu late proceeded to the TPS and made a confession that he initiated the fire at his friend’s residence.

Latu was escorted to the TPS conference room where he was Mirandized and he stated he wished to make a statement about what happened.

Latu told investigators that he was very angry with his friend for many reasons. He used him to get money and sometimes he pretended he’s poor and needed food for him (his friend) and his sick uncle but he was just pretending. There were also times his friend borrowed money from him and never paid it back.

He also told investigators that on Christmas eve, his friend used his vehicle to take his uncle to dinner. Two days later, he noticed his vehicle was involved in a car accident. His friend then informed him about the incident.

On the morning of the incident, Latu went to his friend’s house and asked him to pay back the money his friend borrowed. However, his friend lied to him that somebody broke into his room the night before and stole all his property, including his money.

Latu left the house very pissed off and returned to work. Around 8 p.m on the same night, he planned to do something to hurt his friend for lying to him.

He went to his friend’s and he opened the back door and the first thing he saw was the plastic bottle with gasoline inside. He went straight inside the house and grabbed clothes that were inside another room and stacked them into a pile and poured gasoline on top of the pile. He then lit a fire to start burning the clothes thinking that the fire would burn down the whole house and kill his friend and his sick uncle who were sleeping in the house at the time.

He further stated that after he initiated the fire, he left the residence and immediately called the TPS and informed them of what happened.

Latu verbally stated that his intention was to burn down his friend’s house and make sure that his friend along with his uncle died in the house. He also kept repeating the same conversation over and over during his interview with investigators.

Officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Latu’s breath and body. His red bloodshot eyes were also evident.

Latu was then transported to the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF).