Four men charged with roadside murder [1]
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 - 20:22. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
Four men have been charged with murder, in relation to the death of a 34-year-old man alleged to have been assaulted and left unconscious on the side of a road opposite Vaiola Hospital, early on Saturday morning, July 7.
The Deputy Police Commissioner Taniela Faletau, said today that the four Tongan men aged between 16 to 20 years from Haveluloto and Tofoa, were arrested over the weekend. They are each charged with murder, while two are charged with robbery.
Taniela said the victim was a Tongan man and police believed that he was robbed after being assaulted and was left unconscious with injuries, on the side of Niumeitolu road, opposite the hospital at around 3:00am.
He was found on the road by a resident of a home where he was lying in front. He was rushed to the hospital but died at 9:00am, on the same morning.
The police had recovered some of his belongings, but no further details were released at this stage, as the investigation continued, he said.
The suspects first appeared at the Nuku'alofa Magistrate's Court on July 8, and were remanded in police custody until July 25, for their next court appearance.
Murders
This is the second homicide death in the past two weeks in Nuku'alofa.
A Nuku'alofa shopkeeper, who was a national of an Asian country, was found dead in his shop in the Nuku'alofa CBD, on June 25.
Three men of Asian origin were arrested and charged in relation to the murder, before they were released on June 29 by the Nuku'alofa Magistrate's Court, after the Crown Prosecution offered no evidence.