Man kills woman, then stabs himself in Samoa

Two people are dead after a man stabbed a woman early yesterday morning on the side of a busy stretch of road at Lalovaea. He then stabbed himself as she staggered across the road seeking help.

The woman suffered multiple cuts to her body. She was dead upon arrival at the Moto’otua Hospital.

The man also died minutes after he was brought in to Moto’otua.

The identity of the deceased man and woman could not be verified at press time.

Helen Papali’i, who lives across from Vaea Hotel, said she had just returned from the gym around 7.30am when she heard a woman screaming.

“It wasn’t a normal scream,” said Ms. Papali’i. “It sounded more like a person that was in need of help and it made me run to the road.

“When I came outside our gate, I saw both (man and woman) on the ground and there was a lot of blood.”

At the point, Ms. Papali’i said the woman was battling for her life.

“She tried to stand up and walked across the road to Vaea Hotel where she works,” she said, still in shock. “I then saw the guy stab himself with the knife…by that time I was following the woman across the road until she collapsed in front of the hotel gate.”

Ms. Papali’i rushed to the woman.

“When I turned her over, she was already fading,” she said. “Her eyes had rolled and I saw blood oozing from multiple stab wounds on her chest.”The witness then waved down a car to take the woman to the hospital.

Several other bystanders lifted the woman into the car.

While Ms. Papali’i was leaving the scene with the woman to go to the hospital, she saw Police and Land Transport Authority vehicles pulling up to the scene.

“I then saw the man getting up and wasn’t sure where he was going,” she said. “He collapsed in the middle of the road.”

Ms. Papali’i said when they got to the hospital, the doctor said it was too late to save the woman.

Ms. Papali’i said she still feels shaken by what happened.

“I feel sad that I wasn’t able to save the woman,” she said. “Obviously the sight will stay with me for a while. Images of what happened and how I saw the man continuing to stab himself will never go away.”

Asked for a comment, the owner of Vaea Hotel, Dean Johnson did not want to talk about the tragedy.

“No one could’ve done anything because it all happened too fast,” he said.

The owner confirmed that the woman did work for his hotel.

Acting Police Commissioner, Fauono Talalelei Tapu confirmed that the woman and man were partners.

He said the woman was 23 years old and the man was 27.

“They both work at the same hotel,” said Fauono.

“They were partners and it is suspected it had something to do with their relationship.

“Police are continuing the investigation.”

Samoa Observer/My Pacific