Samoan MP killed at his lover's Auckland home

A Samoan MP visiting his lover in New Zealand was knifed to death on the floor of a Manurewa house by the woman's estranged husband, say prosecutors pursuing a murder conviction.

Pakuranga fabric cutter Vase Iosefa Falaniko has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Su'a Atonio, an Opposition MP in Samoa's Parliament, who was stabbed 17 times in the head, chest and back on October 5 last year.

Falaniko's wife, Motu Falaniko, who had left her husband earlier that year after admitting to an affair with the MP, told the Manukau District Court yesterday that she had tried to shield her lover from the attack.

During their 19-year marriage, the couple had argued over an affair Falaniko had with his wife's sister two years into the marriage.

Seven years ago, when Mrs Falaniko returned to Samoa for her brother's funeral, she met Mr Atonio. He would visit about three times a year.

On the night of her lover's murder, she had gone to her husband's home and played cards, but refused an offer to stay the night. She instead picked up Mr Atonio from his sister's home and the pair returned to her house.

Mrs Falaniko said her husband then turned up, angry, wanting to speak to Mr Atonio. When she told him to leave, he tried to take their son, one of their three children.

She got the boy back, and Falaniko knocked on the door again. She said she was calling the police and he grabbed her cellphone and threw it outside, and then pushed his way into the house.

She put her son in her own car for safekeeping, and when she returned she saw the two men fighting in the hallway.

She said she saw her husband landing five to 10 punches on Mr Atonio, who was dropping to the floor, and when she saw the knife in her husband's hand, she tried to cover Mr Atonio's body. Her husband stabbed over her head at his rival, and when he fell on the floor, stepped over him and left without a word.

Prosecutor Richard Marchant said Falaniko handed himself to police where he admitted the offence, but had claimed self-defence.

Falaniko's counsel, Jonathan Wiles, conceded there was a prima facie case and the accused was remanded to appear in the High Court at Auckland on July 5.