A small Pacific island is in shock after an escaped prisoner reportedly murdered two people and then killed himself after a stand-off with police.
The island of Rarotonga went into lockdown yesterday when convicted sex offender Chris Rimamotu, 41, fled while he was carrying out community service, with police advising residents to stay indoors.
As officers launched an island-wide manhunt, Rimamotu is believed to have strangled his ex-girlfriend and shot her new boyfriend up to 20 times in what a neighbour described as an "execution style" killing. Witnesses named the deceased as Mary Dean and Roger Tauarea.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The neighbour said Tauarea ran into his garden to try and escape, but Rimamotu caught up with him. "[Rimamotu] walked very calmly, he looked very cool and collected," he told AFP.
The fugitive then retreated into an abandoned house. According to Cook Islands News, police surrounded the property and were engaged in negotiations for a "couple of hours" before Rimamotu "is believed to have shot himself dead".
Officers have not officially confirmed his death, with a spokesman saying: "The situation with Chris Rimamotu has been contained. It is now safe for the community in regards to this matter. This is still a live investigation so there will not be any release of information until the investigation is complete."
The body of Dean will be transported to New Zealand for her family to pay their last respects, reports the New Zealand Herald.
Rimamotu was serving a seven-year sentence for the abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in 2014.
-
Political cartoons for February 17Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include a refreshing spritz of Pam, winter events, and more
-
Alexei Navalny and Russia’s history of poisoningsThe Explainer ‘Precise’ and ‘deniable’, the Kremlin’s use of poison to silence critics has become a ’geopolitical signature flourish’
-
Are Hollywood ‘showmances’ losing their shine?In The Spotlight Teasing real-life romance between movie leads is an old Tinseltown publicity trick but modern audiences may have had enough
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
