Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man has been arrested for the alleged assault of his wife at their home.

The defendant was charged with the following:

Count 1: Private Peace Disturbance (DV) — a class B misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to six months, a fine of $500 but not less than $150, or both; and,

Count 2: Assault in the Second Degree (DV) — a class C felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment not to exceed 7 years, and a fine not exceeding $5,000 but not less than $150, or both imprisonment and fine.

Bail for the defendant was set at $15,000.

According to the court affidavit, on May 30, 2024 at around 4:55pm, a 20-year-old woman walked into the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) to report that her husband had allegedly assaulted her earlier that day, in their home.

Police officers spoke with the woman/ victim who explained that at 1:00am, when she arrived home after work, she noticed that her husband was angry.

She explained that “her husband didn’t agree with her having an attitude towards him and answering him back.”

The victim stated that her husband brought up a male individual she grew up with when they were young. She said that she told her husband that “there’s nothing going on between them two and that they were friends.”

The victim continued, saying that her husband dragged her from their room to the bathroom, locked the door and started strangling her, causing her to faint for a few minutes. She woke up, she said, and saw her husband strangling her up [against] the wall. He then dropped her to the floor.

The victim revealed that she hit her forehead on the floor and sustained two bumps on her forehead.

She explained that her husband then walked out of the bathroom and locked all the windows and doors so no one could hear what was going on.

At that point, the defendant walked back to the bathroom and started strangling her for the second time and he told her that “he could and would kill her if he wanted.”

The victim said she begged the defendant to stop.

In the early morning, around 8:00 a.m, the victim said that the defendant threatened that “he will beat her up again and kill her.”

The victim was observed by police to have sustained red markings on her neck, scratches in the back of her neck along with 2 bumps on her forehead.

On May 30, 2024 at about 6:20 p.m, the defendant walked into the TPS, according to the affidavit.

He was Mirandized and said he was willing to answer questions and to provide a statement.

According to the defendant’s verbal statement, it was an accident between himself and his wife. He explained that it was a personal matter and that he would not talk about it to the officers.

The defendant didn’t admit to strangling his wife but that “I only put my hands (suspect demonstrated how he placed his hand on the victim in a strangling position) and pushed his wife away from him,” according to the affidavit.

He was booked and confined at the Tafuna Correctional Facility to await the next available sitting of the District Court.

The defendant is identified as a 23 year-old citizen of Samoa.