Cop: Killer may have struck again

 By JUNIOR UKAHA

POLICE believe the man who killed a young mother at her family food garden in Lae last Friday is a prison escapee.

Lae police operations chief Fred Kaiwa said the man had escaped from the Barawagi prison in Chimbu some years ago. 

He  is believed to have been jailed for killing a police officer.

“He is still at large and we want to question him regarding the death,” Kaiwa said.

The body of Maria Drua, 20, was found by a neighbour in  bushes near her food garden on Saturday morning. 

Her one-year-old baby was found sleeping in a bilum close to  where her mutilated body lay. 

Police believe that the man had been living in the Bewapi community at 9-Mile, although no-one had tipped off the police about it all these years.

 “If people see escapees in their community, they must report it to police,” Kaiwa said.

He said the man needed to be questioned over other offences. He did not give details but said police were monitoring the situation.

Maria’s dad Kimson Drua said her killing was the second in their community. 

The previous was in 2008 when a middle-aged mother from Chimbu was slashed to death  in her garden.

Drua and his family have been living in the settlement since 1991.