Sāmoa’s Murder Trial Eclipsed by Explosive Allegations Against Prime Minister

Year on from Killing, Court Case against Reporter Exposing Political Rift Ahead of Elections

Nearly a year has passed by since Sāmoa was rocked by the brutal, hammer-and-knife slaying of prominent scholar Sinavaiana ‘Sina’ Carol Gabbard.

On the surface, the case has receded into the legal wrangling over Gabbard’s former lover—playwright and author Sia Figiel, 58—who may stand trial for her murder later this year. Questions swirl around Figiel’s mental fitness to face court.

But a potentially more explosive drama is about to unfold—not over Figiel, but over allegations that Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi, 68, was somehow involved in Gabbard’s death. The heat has been ratcheted up by outrageous claims from Lise Marie Schmidt, a trainee reporter  for Talamua.com, with ties to Fiamē’s political enemies.

On 26 May 2024, 78-year-old Gabbard—a distinguished expert on fa’a Sāmoa and aunt to US Intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard—was found brutally murdered. While the connection, via American Sāmoa, is novel, there is no White House tie to the murder.

Samoa’s leading chief and former head of state, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, Professor Gabbard and Masiofo Filifilia Efi. Social media photo.