8 years for killing wife

A MAN has been sentenced to eight years in prison for causing the death of his wife, but will serve only four years because of his medical condition and “strong prospects for rehabilitation”.
Waigani National Court judge Teresa Berrigan told businessman and former lawyer Felix Kange that she had taken into account that the offence was “not planned and there was no intention to harm”.
Kange, 42, of Maia village in Pangia, Southern Highlands, was convicted last September of the death of his wife Regina Morove at their home in Port Moresby in 2016.
He was found guilty of manslaughter and criminal negligent use of a firearm.
The court heard that he had taken a gun out of a drawer in the bedroom, which went off, and the bullet hitting his wife nearby.
There were two other people with them in the room.
“This case requires a penalty that will send a strong deterrent message so that similarly tragic but preventable deaths are avoided in future.
It must serve as a warning,” Justice Berrigan said.
“Guns are not toys, nor are they trophies.”
Kange, who had three children from a previous marriage, had a son, now five years old, with Morove.
“(She) was a young woman, with a young son, a caring family, and much to live for.
“(Her) loss to her young son at a time when he needs his mother the most is impossible to quantify,” Justice Berrigan said.
She sentenced Kange to eight years in jail but deducted 11 months for the times spent in custody and suspended three years on the condition that he be on good behaviour when released.
Kange had maintained that he had accidently fired the gun but Justice Berrigan said there was criminal negligence on his part in handling the firearm.
Justice Berrigan also said that while she appreciated that compensation under custom demonstrated remorse and recognised Morove’s family’s loss, “this must be balanced against the broader interest of justice in imposing an appropriate sentence that meets the purposes of sentencing, namely punishment, deterrence, denouncement, rehabilitation and community protection”.
Kange, also a reserve police officer, operates a security business in Port Moresby.