Aro (died 16 November 1957) was a Papua New Guinean murderer notable for being the last person executed in Papua New Guinea.
Aro was a young man[1] from Rupamanda, Wabag in the Western Highlands District of the Territory of New Guinea.[2] Aro had suffered a spear injury as a youth, and he was largely unemployed, being supported by his two wives Tipiwan and Ruai, along with his family.[3] On 10 April 1957,[2] he murdered his two wives with an axe. Aro then visited one of his relatives working in a hospital, confessing and asking the relative to take care of his children, and turned himself in at the sub-district headquarters office.[4] According to court testimony, Aro was suspecting his wives of adultery.[3]
On 9 August, Aro was found guilty and sentenced to death.[2] He was flown from Mount Hagen to Lae,[1] where he was executed by hanging on 16 November and buried.[2][5]
The death penalty in Papua New Guinea was abolished in 1970, five years before Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia. It was reintroduced in 1991, but never applied.[1]
See also
editCitations
edit- ^ a b c "PNG urged to abandon death penalty". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 November 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d Hardy, Graham (16 September 2015). "Murder trial of Aro of Rupamanda". Papua New Guinea Association of Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
- ^ a b Chisholm 2020, p. 169.
- ^ Chisholm 2020, p. 170.
- ^ Chisholm 2020, p. 173.
References
edit- Chisholm, Murray (2020). Capital Punishment and Clemency in Papua New Guinea, 1954 to 1965. Australian National University (Thesis). doi:10.25911/5e0db8de1887f.
 | This Papua New Guinean biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This biographical article related to crime is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |