Machete attack leaves man clinging to life

A man is fighting for his life after his arm was partially amputated in a machete attack, following a family dispute in Nofoali'i on Monday.

The man, who remained in a critical condition on Thursday, is aged in his 30s. His injuries included severe stab wounds to his back and the loss of his arm above his right wrist. 

“This is a family dispute that turned ugly and landed one man in the hospital and the other in jail," said Police Commissioner, Fuiavaili’ili Egon Keil, in response to question from the Samoa Observer.

"The suspect is facing [an] attempted murder charge and [a] grievous bodily harm [charge] and is under the custody of Police".

The victim and suspect are related by marriage; their wives are sisters. 

This newspaper also visited the Tele’a family in Nofoali’i on Thursday morning, but no one was at the home.

At the village, a woman, who identified herself only as Lauolive, said the men had a disagreement earlier on Monday. 

But when the victim allegedly attempted to defuse the argument by holding a meeting later in the day, the situation is understood to have escalated. 

“The suspect went to the farm in the late afternoon, and the victim followed him in efforts to make amends, however that’s when he was found unconscious with wounds to his back and [with] his right wrist chopped off," Lauolive said. 

"He lost a lot of blood".

On Thursday, this newspaper was denied entry to the Intensive Care Unit at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole National Hospital, where the victim is receiving ongoing treatment. 

The Commissioner said that it was unclear at this time whether alcohol had been a contributing factor to the incident.