Father slams release of daughter’s murderer Source: The National, Friday August 30th, 2013 By JUNIOR UKAHA THE father of a woman killed in the family garden last April is furious that the man charged with the crime is back at home. The killing of Maria Drua, 20, hit the headlines on April 20 when her baby daughter she had taken with her to the garden was left overnight in the bush. Her body and her baby daughter who was sleeping in a bilum, were found the next morning by neighbours in a bush near the family garden at 9-Mile in Lae. Maria’s father Kimson Drua wanted to know why the police released the murder suspect after they had charged him. “Police have to explain why they did not prosecute him and what went wrong,” Drua said. The suspect was held in custody at the Buimo jail but transferred to the Lae Top Town police station cell before he was released on Aug 20. Morobe police commander Supt Leo Lamei yesterday clarified that the suspect had been re-arrested by the police. “He was rearrested by police a week ago and is now remanded at Buimo,” Lamei said. Lamei urged Drua to get in touch with the police if he wanted an update on the progress of the investigation into the murder case. Lamei said the court had freed the suspect because the three-month holding period had lapsed. He admitted that police did not gather enough evidence to prosecute him. “At the moment we are depending on circumstantial evidence,” he said. Lamei explained that circumstantial evidence was evidence based upon assumption. “Just because someone was seen at a particular place where a killing or rape occurred does not mean they are responsible for the crime,” Lamei said.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 04:59:00 +0000