WELLINGTON, New Zealand – An author in Samoa has been accused of murdering another prominent Samoan writer, who was also the aunt of former US congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, authorities in the South Pacific island nation said.
Papalii Sia Figiel, 57, is accused of killing Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard, 78, following an argument last month, authorities told the Associated Press. Both women were prominent figures in the Pacific literary community, and Sinavaiana-Gabbard’s family is involved in U.S. politics.
Figiel is in custody awaiting a court appearance next week. She pleaded no contest to the murder charge. Figiel is not yet represented by an attorney, police said, and could not be reached for comment.
Sinavaiana-Gabbard, a poet and environmentalist, in 2013 became the first person of Samoan descent to achieve the rank of full professor at a U.S. university, according to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she taught from 1997 until her retirement in 2016.
She and Figiel, a poet and novelist, had been friends for 30 years, Samoa Deputy Police Commissioner Papalii Monalisa Tiai-Keti said in written comments provided to the AP. The women argued the day Sinavaiana-Gabbard was killed, Tiai-Keti said.
Her body was found at Figiel’s home in Samoa’s capital, Apia, two days later, after Figiel reported the death to police officers, authorities said.
“She was accompanied by a family member who was the first person she confided in about the incident,” said Tiai-Keti.
Authorities were unable to confirm Sinavaiana-Gabbard’s cause of death. A forensic pathologist was due to travel from Fiji to Apia, a town of 36,000 on Samoa’s second-largest island, Upolu, to perform an autopsy later this month.
Tulsi Gabbard, a former U.S. congresswoman from Hawaii, wrote on Instagram that her aunt “often shared her poetry with me and encouraged me to pursue my own writing” when Gabbard was a child and stayed at her aunt’s house in Manoa.
Sinavaiana-Gabbard’s “horrific” death “sent shockwaves through our family,” wrote Gabbard, who resigned from the Democratic Party in 2022 and said during a public event this month that she would be honored to serve as Republican Donald Trump’s running mate. in the November presidential elections. election.
“I was a scoundrel growing up, and that’s an understatement. But she always stayed positive and always encouraged me to pray to God and ask for his mercy and love,” said the late writer’s brother, Mike Gabbard, a Democratic state senator from Hawaii.
He later followed in his sister’s footsteps to attend Sonoma State University, Mike Gabbard told the AP, and gave her credit for his time as a teacher at a rural high school in American Samoa.
“She also inspired me to give back, that life wasn’t always just about doing what makes you happy, but also to consider serving others, you know, serving God and serving others,” he said.
Sinavaiana-Gabbard “played an essential role in the English Department’s movement toward more robust engagement with Pacific literatures,” University of Hawaii professor John David Zuern said in written comments to the AP. His “excellent work with students” earned him an award from the university, he said.
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McAvoy reported from Hawaii.
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