Aro (murderer)

Aro (known only by that name) was the last person executed in Papua New Guinea.^[1]

In 1957, while Papua New Guinea was an Australian territory, Aro, then a young man, walked into a hospital "carrying a baby and a blood-stained axe" and stated that he had killed his two wives.^[1]

He was convicted of willful murder, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging in November 1957.^[1]

There were no further executions. The death penalty was abolished in 1970, five years before Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia. It was reintroduced in 1991, but never applied.^[1]

See also

• List of most recent executions by jurisdiction
• Use of capital punishment by nation#Oceania

References