Apia - Two former Samoan cabinet ministers, Leafa Vitale (57) and Toi Aukuso Cain (68), have been sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering another minister.
A 4-1 majority murder verdict by five male elders delivered on Wednesday was confirmed by the Samoan Supreme Court judge, Justice Andrew Wilson, after additional submissions by the defence counsel.
They were found guilty of murdering the works minister, Mr Luagalau Levaula Kamu (46), at a political function in July last year.
Death by hanging is the mandatory sentence for murder in Samoa but it has always been commuted to life imprisonment by the Samoan head of state, currently Mr Malietoa Tanumafili II.
