24 Feb 2005

Fiji serial murderer jailed for 19 years

3:20 pm on 24 February 2005

A serial murderer in Fiji has been jailed for 19 years.

Waisele Waqanivalu had pleaded guilty to the killing of four people, two men and two women all in their 20s, at a drinking spot near Ba in 2003.

He also pleaded guilty to the murder of a 34-year old woman in cane field near Nadi and the attempted murder of her boyfriend the same year.

Waqanivalu, 26, said he was pleading guilty because he did not want to spend the rest of his life in prison.

But Lautoka High Court judge, Justice Kishore Govind, sentenced Waqanivalu to 19 years behind bars.

The sentence will be consecutive to a 10-year term Waqanivalu is already serving for several counts of robbery with violence, taking his total sentence to 29 years.