20 years hard labour for man who killed wife

A 28-YEAR-old man who axed his four months pregnant wife to death, was jailed for  20 years with hard labour by the National Court last Friday.
Jerry Samuel, who had suspected his wife of committing adultery, pleaded guilty to the murder in Laiagam station in Porgera on Oct 10, 2008.
Justice Graham Ellis said: “If you think the sentence is too long, then bear in mind that if you had not pleaded guilty, the sentence would likely be between 25 and 30 years.”
He described the crime as a “pre-planned” murder because Samuel had hidden in long grass
before attacking his wife with an axe, striking her on the head and thigh.
Justice Ellis made reference to Samuel’s earlier record of interview in which he had said: “I just hit her with the back of an axe on her head but surprisingly she died.”
“I am not surprised that she died. In view of your involvement in church activities, I am surprised that you took your wife’s life with an axe,” Justice Ellis said.