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Two charged for murdering British man in Papua New Guinea

THE National Court in Papua New Guinea has convicted a Central man and woman for the wilful murder of British man John Hulse in Port Moresby four years ago.
James Paru and Taita Pritchard were given the guilty verdict by Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika in Waigani yesterday after he was satisfied that they had killed Hulse.
Sir Gibbs said Paru was a former military officer who carried out Pritchard’s orders with military precision.
“It was not a fluke that it (murder) was done, it was by specific design,” Sir Gibbs said.
Sir Gibbs said the incident occurred after Hulse ended his relationship with Pritchard and got a new Cambodian girlfriend.
Hulse had also owed Pritchard money.
Sir Gibbs said there was no doubt that the murder of Hulse was intentional and the argument of self-defence against a provoked assault was not available to Paru and Pritchard under section 270 (2) of the Criminal Code.
Paru and Pritchard were remanded in custody at Bomana prison and will re-appear in court on Nov 26 for their lawyers to make submissions on sentence.
According to the indictment presented in court by State prosecution, Pritchard was having an intimate relationship with Hulse from 2008 to 2011.
The prosecution alleged that when Pritchard travelled from Australia to Port Moresby in July 2011, Hulse told her that he had a new girlfriend from Cambodia.
Pritchard, who is also a naturalised citizen of Australia, then allegedly stole passports belonging to Hulse and his Cambodian girlfriend.
Paru and Pritchard allegedly met at the Gordon Industrial Centre in Port Moresby on July 22, 2011 and discussed a plan to kill Hulse.
The next day Paru lured Hulse to the Napanapa road outside Port Moresby under the pretext to return the stolen passports.
It was there that Paru shot Hulse with a shot gun, killing him instantly.
Hulse’s body was found two days later partially burnt due to a bush fire.
The prosecution invoked Section 7 of the Criminal Code to argue that Pritchard was equally responsible for killing Hulse even though Paru allegedly fired the shot.  The National/ONE PNG
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