30 Aug 2007

Canadian woman flees Bougainville when a man is killed after attempting to stop her leaving

7:16 pm on 30 August 2007

A Canadian woman touring Bougainville has fled the autonomous Papua New Guinea province after being caught in a dispute that ended in the bashing death of a deranged man who claimed her as his wife.

Police says the incident happened as Denise Deziel, a lawyer in her 50s, was at the village of Sirovai on the main island's east coast on Tuesday ready to take a boat to Solomon Islands.

She had recently met a local man, Robert Isaiah, who tried to stop her leaving.

Police say that Mr Isaiah claimed that Ms Deziel was his second wife and fired a spear fishing gun, wounding his nephew, the boat's skipper.

In retaliation, relatives bashed Mr Isaiah and he died instantly.