Man jailed 20 years for murder

A MAN was sentenced to 20 years with hard labour for shooting another man whom he said was having an affair with his wife.
Circuit judge to Porgera, Justice Graham Ellis, found Was Mipu guilty of the last June 16 murder.
Mipu used a homemade gun to shoot the man in Taronga village in Paiela, after accusing him of infecting his wife with HIV/AIDS, which also resulted in the death of his two babies.
Mipu shot the man in the back of his head at close range.
He then surrendered to the Paiam police
Mipu accused the man of committing adultery with his wife in 2003 and 2004.
He said, during that time, his wife got pregnant twice but his two babies died.
Mipu said he summoned the man to appear before the Paiela village court twice.
The village court  ordered the deceased to pay compensation but
he ignored the court’s order.
Mipu claimed that in 2007, the man killed his pig and chased him with a homemade gun.
He said the deceased tried to shoot him on June 16 but he managed to grab the deceased’s own homemade gun and shot him instead.
Justice Ellis said Mipu shot the man at close range and that it was a deliberate act.
Justice Ellis said he considered Mipu’s surrender to the police,
his guilty plea to the murder and the provocation arising from adultery as mitigating factors in his sentencing.
He also said a heavier sentence was also justified for the murder but “I am satisfied that Mipu would learn his lesson after serving his term in prison.”
Justice Ellis said: “Life is more important than anything else, adultery included, and nothing can restore a life that is lost.”