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Woman contacts authorities after allegedly living in a nightmare — with her children

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of assaulting his wife in the presence of their two minor children and locking them inside a room for two days is now in custody.

The defendant made his initial appearance in Court.

He is charged with 3 counts of felonious restraint involving domestic violence, a class D felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, along with 3rd-degree assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, all class A misdemeanors, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

Due to the seriousness of the allegation against the defendant, the court has set bail at $50,000.

Last week, the defendant appeared in court for his preliminary examination (PX), however, the case was bound over to High Court for arraignment after the defendant waive his rights to a PX.

The defendant has now been remanded back to prison to await his pretrial conference set for August, as he had not posted bail at press time.

(Note: Because young children are involved in the case, Samoa News will not publish the name of the defendant.)

THE CASE

Investigation disclosed that on May 2, 2022 around 1p.m, a report came into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) about a man allegedly beating his wife with their 8 and 9 year old children present and then locking them inside their room preventing them from leaving their residence.

Investigators interviewed parties involved in the case and they provided information about what allegedly happened.

According to the wife (victim), her husband became suspicious that she was talking to other men. He continually questioned her about having an affair and then would get mad and beat her inside the house.

She stated to investigators that there were times the defendant asked numerous questions about why she had changed her attitude. She told him that there were no changes in her attitude.

Around 11a.m on that same day, the victim’s mother had a make an excuse to the husband (defendant) about why she had come to get her daughter and grandchildren not wanting to tell him that she had received a call from her daughter (victim) earlier on that day crying that she was scared and wanted to leave the house with her children.

When the defendant agreed for his wife and children to leave with his wife’s mother, they noticed that the defendant was following them. The victim and her mother turned into the Malaeimi store where the defendant got out of his car and came over to the car where his wife and children, along with his wife’s mother were sitting and started cussing out to his wife saying that she was lying.

The defendant yelled at his wife ant told the children to get out of the car. The children refused to get out because they were scared and crying while he was dragging them out of the car. The defendant then left with the children.

The victim got scared and told her mother to drop her off to the TPS where she was interviewed by investigators.

According to the victim, it was between Apr. 24- 30, 2022 that they had a verbal altercation that led to her husband (defendant) cussing and yelling profanities and he rushed over to their bed where she was lying and started strangling her with his two bare hands, to the point where she was fighting to catch a breath.

Their children stared crying with fear while the defendant was strangling her on the bed. The defendant then walked outside their room and grabbed a 2 x 4 and hammered it onto the door so the victim couldn’t come outside the room. The defendant kept the victim and their children locked in the room for two days.

After taking down the 2 x 4, the defendant threatened the victim that if she left the house, he would go over to her family in Mapusaga and eat them alive. In addition, the victim noticed that the defendant would sleep with a machete on his left side and threaten her that if she left the room he would use the machete to kill her.

The victim told investigators that there was no affair between her and any one and she didn’t know where the defendant got that information. She stated that she is scared for her life and the safety of her children and she believes that the defendant will do something bad to harm her and the children.

She said that she’s tired of her husband’s attitude and she wants to make sure she and her children are in a secure and safe place.

Several police officers proceeded to the family residence in Tafuna and found him at the house. He was peacefully taken to the TPS for further investigation.

The defendant was Mirandized and he stated that he understood his rights and wished to remain silent.