Pastor jailed for killing wife

A PASTOR of a Seventh Day Adventist church in Enga has been sentence to life imprisonment for killing his five-month pregnant wife after she refused to sleep with him.
The Wabag National Court on Wednesday sentenced Pr Paul Leke, aged 40, and a father of four from Opan village, to life imprisonment.
The court heard that Leke killed his wife because, the previous night, he had an argument with her after she refused to sleep with him because he had assaulted her.
The court heard Leke cut his wife on her face twice with an axe on Oct 5, 2008, while on their way to Teremanda from their Opan village, Wabag district.
The wife’s sister, Cathlyne Naiclan, was with them when Leke committed the crime.
He threatened Naiclan three times with an axe before fleeing the scene.
The wife fell on the ground with blood flowing out of her face and died almost instantly.
Leke told the court that his wife had committed adultery but that was rejected by the court.
Justice Graham Ellis said in his 12-page judgment that the evidence in this case raised no higher than that the offender had a mild argument with his wife the night before he killed her.
He said an argument came about because the wife refused to sleep with the offender because he had previously assaulted her.
Ellis said the conduct of the offender far outweighed that incident and, in any event, that situation was caused by the offender having previously assaulted the wife.
He said the offender twice requested the wife’s sister to turn back that was plainly intended to leave him alone with the wife so that there would be no eye witness to the offence.
Ellis said there was undoubtedly a strong desire to do grievous bodily harm.
The evidence warranted a finding that there was an intention to kill and this was a brutal killing, in cold blood.
Ellis said there was a complete disregard for human life.
He said this case was a worse case of murder, adding there was a need for deterrence in this case and a sentence of life imprisonment should deter others.
Ellis said this offender should not be released back into the community and that the case was a suitable vehicle for promoting deterrence in relation to domestic violence.