Aro (murderer)

Aro (died 16 November 1957) was a Papua New Guinean murderer notable for being the last person executed in Papua New Guinea.

Aro was a young man[1] from Rupamanda, Wabag in the Western Highlands District of the Territory of New Guinea.[2] Aro had suffered a spear injury as a youth, and he was largely unemployed, being supported by his two wives Tipiwan and Ruai, along with his family.[3] On 10 April 1957,[2] he murdered his two wives with an axe. Aro then visited one of his relatives working in a hospital, confessing and asking the relative to take care of his children, and turned himself in at the sub-district headquarters office.[4] According to court testimony, Aro was suspecting his wives of adultery.[3]

On 9 August, Aro was found guilty and sentenced to death.[2] He was flown from Mount Hagen to Lae,[1] where he was executed by hanging on 16 November and buried.[2][5]

The death penalty in Papua New Guinea was abolished in 1970, five years before Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia. It was reintroduced in 1991, but never applied.[1]