Man found guilty of killing cousin

A SEPIK man and his two sons appeared before the National Court in Wewak recently charged with the wilful murder of one of their relatives.
Forty-eight-year-old Ruben Kau, and sons Ruben Kau (Jnr) and David Kau, aged 22 and 17 respectively, appeared before Justice David Cannings for the alleged murder of one John Moris.
The deceased was a nephew of Ruben Kau and a cousin brother to Ruben Jnr and David.
The three accused and the deceased were all from Wom village in Angoram, East Sepik province.
The court was told that on the evening of March 30, 2007, an incident took place at Saksak Compound in Wewak that led to the death of the deceased.
Ruben Kau and his two sons were allegedly held accountable and indicted for the murder.
They all pleaded not guilty and the case proceeded to trial.
During the trial, the State alleged that Moris was killed after an earlier altercation involving the two sons and another group of men.
It alleged that David stabbed him with a knife, intending to cause grievous bodily harm and inflicted a fatal wound to the deceased while Ruben and Ruben Jnr assisted him.
Several State witnesses also gave evidence that David stabbed Moris in the right side of the chest with a kitchen knife.
However, David denied the killing and claimed that one Robin Yandu was the one who murdered.
David told the court that he had used a bread knife to cut Morris on the back and not a kitchen knife adding that he did not intend to kill Moris.
He claimed that the actual killing was caused by Yandu.
While handing down his ruling, Justice Cannings acquitted Ruben and Ruben Jnr and found David guilty of the murder.
A sentence will be handed down at a later date.