HEARING of evidence into the fatal stabbing of a Chinese businesswoman inside her shop at Point Cruz, Honiara last April begins in the High Court, Tuesday (today).
The deceased’s shop keeper, Max Gosia Taiga was charged with her murder and had entered a not guilty plea at a previous court appearance.
The trial starts this morning before Justice Howard Lawry.
On Monday, the prosecution, the defence lawyer, the judge, accompanied by police officers visited the crime scene at Point Cruz.
Prosecution is likely to call about 10 or more witnesses for their case.
The murder incident happened on 13 April last year at Wai Hai shop, located at the White Angel Building, Point Cruz.
Taiga was working as a shop keeper for the deceased at her shop at the time of the offending.
Prosecution alleged Taiga hid himself inside the shop before the shop closes for the day on the previous day, 12 April 2021.
At around 6pm, all shop keepers left and the deceased locked the shop without knowing that the accused was hiding inside the shop.
On the day of the incident, the deceased after dropping off her twin sons at school, went down to open her shop.
She went in through the gate attached to the building at the northern end to access the back door of the shop before she could enter her shop and opened the front door for her shop keepers.
After opening the back door, she walked inside the shop to open the front door when the accused allegedly stabbed her neck and her body with a short kitchen knife.
The deceased fell down inside the shop and Taiga allegedly left the shop through the back door and locked the door from inside the shop.
It was further alleged that Taiga then went and stood with other shop keepers in front of the shop pretending to wait for the shop’s door to be opened.
During the attack, the deceased called her husband through her mobile phone and her husband rushed down to the shop but the shop’s back door was locked.
He accessed the shop through the neighbor shop but found his wife already dead.
Police were then alerted of the incident and attended the crime scene.
On the evening of that same day, Taiga escaped to Malaita but was arrested shortly after he surrendered himself to police with the help of his relatives.
BY ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN
Solomon Star, Honiara
