By ELIZABETH VUVU
POLICE in East New Britain and New Ireland believe that eight people on board a boat that recently went missing between Kokopo and West Coast Namatanai were murdered.
A 30-year-old man has been charged with two counts of murder.
Gregory Kiapkot, of Lokon in Central New Ireland, appeared in the Kokopo Committal Court yesterday for mention.
Police believe that Kiapkot and others had ambushed the boat and killed the eight people last Sept 26.
Only two bodies have been recovered.
A woman’s naked body was found floating in a boat in Namatanai waters. She had slash wounds on the head and arm and bruises on the body.
The body of the boat’s operator was found at Karawara in Duke of York. He also had slash wounds and bruises.
Kokopo police said they had only charged Kiapkot with the two murders and that they needed to recover the other bodies before they could file further charges.
The hearing has been fixed for Nov 13.