Prominent Samoan author Papalii Sia Figiel was charged with the murder of the 78-year-old Caroline Sinaviana-Gabbard, the aunt of Tulsi Gabbard, the former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman. According to the New York Post, the 78-year-old retired former University of Hawaii professor was stabbed multiple times and beaten with a hammer by the 57-year-old playwright Papalii Sia Figiel who was arrested Sunday by local Samoan police.
Samoa is a country located in the South Pacific Ocean.
The murder happened on May 25 at Figiel’s home in the village of Vaivase-Uta about three miles from the island nation’s capital city of Apia. Figiel’s property also serves as the local theatre.
Samoan Police Commissioner Auapaau Logoitino Filipo said that an argument broke out between the pair before the incident turned violent. It is unclear what sparked the argument. The two women were colleagues and friends and Gabbard was Figiel’s mentor, local news media outlets said.
Sinaviana-Gabbard was Tulsi Gabbard’s aunt and sister of Hawaii state senator Mike Gabbard.
Her family says she was the first Samoan to achieve full professorship in the US and was renowned as a writer, teacher, and environmental activist. Mike Gabbard shared that he was very close to his sister during their childhood and took great pride in her life’s achievements.
“Caroline was my best friend as a teenager,” Mike Gabbard said.
“She helped me considerably during my rebellious stage of adolescence. She got me hooked on reading, so much so that I followed in her footsteps and majored in English at Sonoma State University in California, then returned to our birthplace, American Samoa, where I taught English in high schools and was a faculty member, guidance counsellor and dean at the community college for many years,” Mike Gabbard said in a statement to Spectrum News.
“I love her deeply and wish her well as she continues her journey,” he further added.
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