Police arrest Samoan poet for the murder of Caroline Sinaviana-Gabbard, aunt of former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard

Poet and playwright Papalii Sia Figiel, 57, was arrested following the death of Caroline Sinaviana-Gabbard, 78, aunt of former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Sinaviana-Gabbard, a former college professor, was allegedly beaten with a hammer and stabbed several times in Samoa, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean.

According to the latest police report, obtained by The New Zealand Herald, Figiel surrendered to authorities last Sunday. The murder occurred, according to the report, a day earlier after an argument at the author's house in the town of Vaivase-Uta.

Figiel was first charged with involuntary manslaughter and then later with manslaughter, as Islands Business reported.