High seas murderer Tevita Qaqa Kapawale has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 26 years and two months for the murder of five crew members on board the vessel FV Tiro II in 2021.
Justice Dane Tuiqereqere, while passing sentence yesterday, said Kapawale had cruelly taken the lives of the crew members, whose bodies are yet to be retrieved.
“Their last moments will have been filled with terror and hopelessness,” Justice Tuiqereqere said.
“Their families must live with thoughts and the grief. They have suffered because of the senseless killing.”
Last month, Kapawale was convicted of the murder of Benjamin Semuel Mattaputty, Eme Warma, Alfat Kodri, Samuela Sukera, and Qiritavabea Cagilabakomeli.
He was also convicted of the attempted murder of Kaminieli Tucama and criminally intimidating Mitieli Cama.
According to the court, there was some degree of premeditation given he had hatched a plan that stood the best chance of overcoming the entire crew.
A plan which involved him arming himself with an axe and attacking the crew when they were vulnerable in the early hours near the end of the shift.
“While you murdered five crew, that number would have been seven had the other two crew not acted to save their own lives,” Justice Tuiqereqere said.
He added given that the bodies have not been found yet, this has had “serious consequences” for the families because “they have not been able to have closure or a proper funeral”.
Justice Tuiqereqere added the two survivors remain living in a psychological prison haunted by the events that night and have not returned to work on a fishing vessel since the 2021 incident.
Kapawale has 30 days to appeal to the Appellate Court.