Killing

Murder

Shocks Vanuatu

By Patrick Decloitre

The murder of an Italian builder on November 29 in Vanuatu’s capital has caused deep shock within the community, generat ing the wildest rumours, but also fear.

On November 29, in Port Vila, the body of Franco Pichi, 51, was found by police on the rear of his truck in what authorities immediately believed was a gang murder case.

The body of Pichi, owner of the Roman Construction building company, was taken to the Vila Central Hospital morgue, where a post mortem revealed heavy skull damage, a broken neck and ribs and wounds on the back. Pichi’s neck had traces of strangulation.

Public Prosecutor John Baxter-Wright said from the start that the case would be treated as murder, granted the evi dence found on the scene and traces on the body.

Police have recovered a jack and a handle that “may have been used to inflict the injuries”, Baxter-Wright said.

The pick-up truck was found at the bottom of a slope near a construction site on a hill overlooking Port Vila’s sec ond lagoon.

Wheel traces on the grass indicate the vehicle was pushed down the slope

while the body was already placed at the rear in the open wagon.

Baxter-Wright, who immediately went on the scene with police inspectors, says there have been other cases of expatriates dying in Vanuatu in dubious circumstances, but there had been noth ing as violent as this since indepen dence.

Police in Port Vila later indicated they excluded indigenous ni-Vanuatu as being the possible murderers, saying the crime did not fit with local killing habits.

The same source said it was believed at least two persons took part in the killing, one holding the victim while the other hit him.

“Ni-Vanuatu usually kill with bush knives, hands and feet,” Baxter-Wright said.

Police have called on the public to provide information on the murder.

Meanwhile, three Australian Federal Police officers have been flown to Port Vila to provide assistance to the Vanuatu police.

Although every line of inquiry is being followed and a number of people have been questioned, no one has been arrested. on December 13, a local business man’s working premises were searched,

but police had refused to reveal any more.

“The investigation is progressing, but we don’t want to release anything about it until it comes to an end,” Police Commissioner Luke Siba said last month.

The Port Vila community is increas ingly worried. This generates the wildest rumours in the capital as to who could have committed the murder. Because of the builder’s background, reference to the Italian mafia crops up, not to men tion Chinese triads, so called “American Vietnamese from Los Angeles”.

Suspicion has fallen on local people, in relation to gambling or, more trivially, affairs.

Rumour, which in Port Vila can be considered as being a national pastime, goes wild, whether it is talk of motives or the origin of the murderers. Since the murder took place, the subject monopo lises all social conversations.

“This has had a considerable impact on the local community,” says Baxter- Wright, “mainly because we have never had such a violent killing in the last four teen years.

“It’s not really the sort of thing that happens everyday. So I’m not surprised at the amount of gossip. Of course, this is not very helpful to the police, but

they have to investigate every possible hint.”

A prominent local manager’s com ments are also reflective of the feeling among the ni-Vanuatu community; “First we are very shocked about the way this was done, but mainly, people are now afraid, they feel they are no longer safe if this sort of crime can happen here,” he said.

“If the police cannot find the murder er or murderers, then this means that anyone can get killed tomorrow in the same manner, and the murderer will get away with it.”

Although authorities here are aware of Pichi’s recent background in relation to the Cook Islands Sheraton hotel sham, nothing yet indicates that there is a link between this and the murder.

Pichi arrived in Port Vila less than two years ago from the Cook Islands, where he was the manager of the Sheraton construction project through his Stephany company.

However, soon after his arrival, Pichi went into trading under the name Roman Development Limited, which was mainly building private houses. ■

The funeral of Pichi in Port Vila