The woman accused of murdering the aunt of former US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a celebrated Samoan author, prestigious playwright — and close associate of her alleged victim.
Papalii Sia Figiel, 57, is now in police custody for allegedly taking a hammer and knife to Dr. Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard, a poet, retired former college professor and the aunt of the Trump veep hopeful and ex-Democratic Hawaiian congresswoman.
Sinavaiana-Gabbard, 78, was found dead May 25 inside Figiel’s Vaivase-Uta home, according to local news reports.
She had been beaten with a hammer and stabbed multiple times, reportedly after an argument between between the two women in the home, which doubles as the local community theater, GaluMoana Theater.
Figiel is said to have fled to a friend’s house after the vicious attack before turning herself in to police. She was initially charged with manslaughter, but the charges have since been upgraded to murder.
Local media reported that the women, who were both involved in the literary world, were close associates. Sinavaiana-Gabbard was described in many reports as Figiel’s mentor.
Samoan Police Commissioner Auapaau Logoitino Filipo said investigators have yet to determine why Sinavaiana-Gabbard was killed.
“We do not know what the motive is of the offending, but from reports, the incident occurred on Saturday, and the suspect left the deceased at her home while she went out to Lotofaga and spent time with a friend,” Filipo added.
Figiel attended school in her native Samoa as well as New Zealand, where she started her Bachelor of Arts, a degree she’d later attain at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash.
Her poetry took top honors in the Polynesian Literary Competition in 1994, and her debut novel, “Where We Once Belonged,” earned her a Best First Book award in the South East Asia/South Pacific Region of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1997, according to her online author bios.
She has published two books of prose poetry, 1996’s “Girl in the Moon Circle” and 1998’s “Contemplation.” She regularly would perform her poems at literary festivals, and her work has been translated into numerous foreign languages.
Figiel has held residencies at the Institucio de les Lletres Catalanes in Spain, the Pacific Writing Forum at the University of the South Pacific, the University of Technology, Sydney, and the East West Center-Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawaii.
Sinavaiana-Gabbard taught creative writing at the University of Hawaii for nearly 20 years and was an associate professor of Pacific literature at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, according to Samoa News.
In 2003, Figiel learned she had type two diabetes, the same disease that killed both of her parents.
Although she hid her diagnosis from the public at first — not wanting to be perceived as weak — she later became a vocal advocate for those battling the chronic condition.
Details are still emerging about Figiel and Sinavaiana-Gabbard’s relationship.
A friend of the slain professor told The Samoa Observer that she had been a brilliant writer and a supporter of other writers.
“[She was] someone who did not deserve to die like that. She was a very private person despite being a giant in the literary world,” the pal said.
Figiel is due to make her next court appearance later this month.
