19 Jan 2016

Man who stabbed cousin in American Samoa guilty of manslaughter

1:37 pm on 19 January 2016

The American Samoa High court has accepted a plea agreement for a 21-year-old man who was charged with the murder of his cousin in August last year.

Michael Schuster was originally charged with second degree murder, first degree assault and tampering or fabricating physical evidence.

Now he has pleaded guilty to the amended charge of manslaughter and all other charges have been dismissed.

Chief Justice Michael Kruse said the court agrees with the facts as presented by the Probation Office that the charge of manslaughter was appropriate, but also said it was a hot-blooded killing.

Schuster was in a car last August with his cousin, when he stabbed the 23-year-old and then dumped his body in nearby bushes.

He will be sentenced on January 29.