The High Courts sentence on Tevita Qaqa Kapawale to a minimum term of 26 years and two months in prison for the murder of five fellow crew members on a fishing trip in May 2021 is a sentence the judge says is consistent with punishments in other multiple-murder cases in Fiji.
Justice Dane Tuigereqere noted in his ruling delivered this week that Mr Kapawale had shown “no remorse” and continued to contest the charges despite previously admitting his role in the killings to others.
His refusal to speak at sentencing or allow a lawyer to represent him was highlighted as further evidence of his lack of acceptance of the verdict.
The court deducted two years from the sentence for Mr Kapawale’s age since he was 28 when the offences occurred.
The court refused any further leniency due to his prior convictions for assault in 2020 and 2021.
A further deduction accounted for the 22 months he has already spent on remand.
Justice Tuigereqere compared the sentence to other high-profile cases in Fiji and listed them as State v Chand (2006), the murder of three teenage girls brought a 19-year minimum term, State v Isoof (2022), poisoning five people led to a 20-year term, State v Chand (2013), the brutal hacking of two young men carried a 25-year sentence and State v Prasad (2017), five murders by arson saw the court impose 28 years.
“I am satisfied that the minimum term of 26 years and 2 months for you is in keeping with the other sentences and is proportional to the seriousness of the five murders committed by you,” the judge said.