Aro (murderer)

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Aro (died 16 November 1957) was a Papua New Guinean murderer notable for being the last person executed in Papua New Guinea.

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Aro was a young man [1] from Rupamanda, Wabag in the Western Highlands District of the Territory of New Guinea. [2] Aro had suffered a spear injury as a youth, and he was largely unemployed, being supported by his two wives Tipiwan and Ruai, along with his family. [3] On 10 April 1957, [2] he murdered his two wives with an axe. Aro then visited one of his relatives working in a hospital, confessing and asking the relative to take care of his children, and turned himself in at the sub-district headquarters office. [4] According to court testimony, Aro was suspecting his wives of adultery. [3]

On 9 August, Aro was found guilty and sentenced to death. [2] He was flown from Mount Hagen to Lae, [1] where he was executed by hanging on 16 November and buried. [2] [5]

The death penalty in Papua New Guinea was abolished in 1970, five years before Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia. It was reintroduced in 1991, but never applied. [1]

See also

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 "PNG urged to abandon death penalty". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 November 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hardy, Graham (16 September 2015). "Murder trial of Aro of Rupamanda". Papua New Guinea Association of Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 Chisholm 2020, p. 169.
  4. ↑ Chisholm 2020, p. 170.
  5. ↑ Chisholm 2020, p. 173.

References


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