Murder case file overdue

By JACINTA COHLEE
A LAE committal court has ordered a police prosecutor to find out about the progress of a murder file from an arresting officer regarding the case yesterday.
Magistrate Samuel Lavutul told the police prosecutor after the prosecutor had told the court that it had been three months and they had not received any files.
Magistrate Lavutul deferred the case of Kelvin Soten, 29, of Gasam village in Siassi, Morobe, to Aug 12 for final adjournment when the arresting officer would inform the court about the progress of the file.
Magistrate Lavutul told Soten that “because of your own safety and the deceased’s relatives’ peace of mind, I will adjourn the case to next week Friday for the arresting officer to appear and explain the progress of the file.”
It was alleged that on April 11 at Salamanda in Lae, the deceased (Mark Kenny) with other boys from Disable Home, Papuan Compound, went to settle a fight.
When they tried to solve the issue between them, a fight broke out but was stopped by their elders and postponed to resolve it the next day.
The court noted that Soten came from nowhere and threw a 1125ml bottle of Trade Winds liquor at Kenny.The bottle hit Kenny on his head and he fell unconscious on the ground. He was rushed to Angau Memorial General Hospital but died on arrival.