Two key witnesses in a murder trial connected to the death of a policewoman allegedly shot in Aleisa in December 2022 have evaded police prompting the Supreme Court to issue a warrant for their arrest.

Senior Judge Justice Vui Clarence Nelson ordered the warrant of arrest on Monday for the two witnesses in the case against murder accused, Edward Fanueli.

Fanueli’s trial was scheduled for Monday this week but the absence of prosecution key witnesses from testifying could have jeopardised the case leading to the matter being postponed.  

One of the key witnesses is a relative of the accused and the other one was employed by his family during the time of the offence.

Fanueli has already pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mele Segisolo Lapana on 24 December 2022 at Aleisa. 

During discussions in court, the assigned prosecutor Magele Leone Sua–Mailo noted the difficulty of pursuing the trial without the key witnesses. 

She noted the position from the defence was that the incident was more accidental stressing this was not reflected in the affidavits before them and it would be an issue in drafting a summary of facts. 

Magele told the court the prosecution would like to exhaust all methods before it can explore the option of decreasing the charge to manslaughter which was also proposed by the defence. 

Defence lawyer Leitaualesa Jerry Brunt did not object to the matter being adjourned again and had agreed to have the matter disposed of as soon as possible. 

Following a meeting in the chambers, Justice Nelson said he was satisfied with the evidence before him that the witnesses were deliberately evading police. 

He subsequently issued a warrant of arrest for the witnesses and adjourned the matter for mention on 8 April. 

Fanueli is still on bail and is required to sign twice a week at the police station.