Insanity plea in strangling case

Press, 16 July 1982, Page 5

Insanity plea in strangling case

Because he mistakenly believed that his wife was having an affair with a neighbour and did not love him a man strangled her with a heater cord. Mr Justice Casey and a jury were told in the High Court yesterday. The defence of insanity is to be raised in the trial of Raimoni Ulaula, aged 29, an unemployed Western Samoan, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murdering his wife Tise Ulaula. aged 33. in their two-storey flat in Aidershot Street, Aranui. on November 12. Medical evidence was given that the cord was wound twice so tightly around the neck that it cut into the skin and the cause of death was strangulation. Messrs S. G. Erber and A. M. -Mclntosh appear for the Crown which is calling II witnesses, and Mr M. J. Glue and Mrs P. Gibson for Ulaula. The trial will finish today. Opening his case Mr Erber said that Ulaula and his wife were married in April. 198 i, and they had two small children. About six weeks before Mrs Ulaula's death she received a disparaging letter

about Ulaula from a relative _ in Samoa. That triggered the ' series of events which resulted in her death. There was a row after Ulaula read the letter and he left home. When he returned he found that his wife had left taking the children with her. After., a search Ulaula found them at a relative’s house and they returned home with him. Ulaula became concerned about how they had got to the relative's place and Mrs Ulaula told him that they had taken a taxi. However, eventually she admitted that a neighbour. Tony Lewis, had taken them in his car at her request. , It appeared from that point on that Ulaula believed that his wife was having a clandestine affair with Mr Lewis and that his wife did not love him. There was a further violent argument and Mrs Ulaula and the children went to live with a Samoan minister for about a week. Later there was a reconciliation and the family returned. But on November 10 Ulaula attempted to strangle his wife with an electrical cord but stopped in time.

On Thursday. November 12. Ulaula awoke early in the morning and saw that his wife was sitting on the edge of the bed. He used the cord to strangle her. Soon afterwards he telephoned an acquaintance and asked him to come and pick up the children as his wife was ill. When the man arrived Ulaula admitted that his wife was dead and the police were called. Because of what the Crown had learned from Mr Glue and certain reports which had been made available to it Mr Erber said that he did not think there was going to be much doubt about the question of who killed Mrs Ulaula. or whether her husband, whom the Crown alleged caused her death, intended to kill her.

As the defence of insanity was to be raised Mr Glue would be calling evidence. Although a person might have committed an act which constituted a crime the law stated that if that person did not consciously and wilfully intend to commit those acts then he could not be found guilty of a crime.

The Crimes Act recognised

that a person who was insane was not responsible for his actions and was not to be regarded as having intended those actions. “The law says no-one shall be convicted of an offence when at the time he was suffering from a disease of the mind to such an extent that he was incapable of understanding the nature and quality of the act and that it was morally wrong, having regard to the commonly accepted standards of right and wrong," said Mr Erber. In law a person was presumed to be sane and therefore it was for the accused to raise the defence of insanity and prove it. The Crown had to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt but all the accused had to do was to satisfy the jury on the balance of probabilities that he was insane at the time he killed his wife, Mr Erber said. Moa Tuiloma, a spray painter, who came from Western Samoa in 1978. said that he attended Mr and Mrs Ulaula's wedding. Just after 7 a.m. on November 12 Ulaula telephoned him and asked him to pick up the children as his wife was ill.

j As he arrived he saw > Ulaula standing at the door j with the two children. He 1 was holding them by their hands and looked worried. I When he asked Ulaula where ; his wife was he started crying and said that she was upstairs sick. They went 1 upstairs and saw fise lying on her back on the floor. He did not go into the room but saw that there was a dark bruise around her neck. Ulaula told him that she was dead and that he had strangled, her. Asked why he had done it Ulaula said’that he and his wife were upstairs and the baby was crying so he sent his wife down to get a botle of milk for it. He was waiting for a long time and when he went down he saw somebody jumping out the window. Mr Tuiloma said that he commanded Ulaula to go with him and he telephoned the police from his home. To Mr Glue Mr Tuiloma said that he and Ulaula were boys together in Samoa. At the time Ulaula was very upset and was weeping. They were both members of

St Paul's Trinity Pacific Church at the corner 'of Cashel and MJdras streets, which was attended by members of the Samoan communitv.

While they were at the Police Station Mr Tuiloma said that he urged Ulaula to pray to God to forgive him for what he had done. They both bowed their heads in prayer.

Dr Patrick Robert Kelleher. a pathologist, said that he examined the body of a female Polynesian woman in an upstairs room on a mattress on the floor about 10 a.m. on November 12. The room was in a state of dishevelment and the body was identified to him as Tuafalesina Ulaula.

There was a ligature mark right around the neck and bruises and lacerations on the face and neck. Death would have occurred about three to four hours previously. The post-mortem examination established that the woman was in the very early stage of pregnancy.

Cause of death was strangulation by a cord which had been wound around the neck twice. Considerable force

would have had to be used. Mrs Ulaula would have been lying face down when the assailant put the cord around her neck from behind or she could have been kneeling. Dr Kelleher said. To Mr Glue Dr Kelleher said Mrs Ulaula had been pregnant for only three to four weeks and might not have been aware that she was. Sergeant Maxwell James South said that he went to an address in Kuaka Crescent about 7.10 a.m. on November 12 where he found Ulaula in a distressed and forlorn state. Asked what had happened Ulaula replied that he had killed his wife. He said he had done it at his place with a rope. Before going to the police station Ulaula was sobbing and he kissed his children goodbye. Sergeant South said. Detective Robert Grant Palmer said that he arrived at the Ulaula home in Aidershot Street about 8.50 a.m. It was one of four similar units. There was no fence along the front of the premises and the grounds were in a state of neglect. He cleared people from the scene.

Under the .mattress of a carry cot he found a length of electric flex, a pair of scissors and a small number of coins. Mrs Ulaula was lying on her back with her arms at her sides. She was wearing a roll-neck sweater and - was naked from the waist down. The bath contained a quantity of soiled nappies and clothing. There was a pile of bedding underneath the basin and a cardboard box containing rubbish, cigarette butts and the like. The floor of the hall was covered with butts, matches and food. Detective Palmer' said. It was a tragic case. Mrs Gibson said when opening the defence. There was no dispute that Ulaula had killed his wife but the defence said that he was not guilty of murder because he was insane within the legal definition. At the time Ulaula strangled his wife he was suffering from insane delusions. Evidence would be given that there had been a marked change in Ulaula's behaviour in the weeks before his wife's death. Mrs Gibson said.