Ugly domestic-violence year

It's shaping up to be an ugly year for domestic-violence-related homicides in Utah. So far, there have been six.

The U.S. Attorney's Office reported seven cohabitant homicides in Utah for all of 2000. Those statistics do not include the three infants that have died in 2001 under suspicious circumstances. Two of those cases resulted in police making arrests.

In a recent case of domestic violence, a West Valley man was charged with criminal homicide after his wife was found beaten to death.

Sosiua Toki Finau, 41, told police he beat Mineva Finau at their home, 3132 S. 4400 West, on May 6 with his fists and a weightlifter's dumbbell and then put her body in a bedroom closet, according to court documents. Finau piled clothing on the body apparently in an effort to hide it, court documents state.

Less than 24 hours after Finau's body was discovered, a man was shot and killed in a separate incident in Murray, apparently by a former girlfriend.

In many cases, people close to the assailant and the victim know there is trouble in the relationship but don't act because they do not believe it would ever escalate to murder, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Finau had been arrested previously for attacking his wife. In 1996 he was charged with assault for hitting his wife in the eye, according to court documents. Finau reportedly used another dumbbell in that incident. He was given a suspended 30-day jail sentence.

Society as a whole needs to stop minimizing domestic violence in order for it to change, said Diane Stuart, state coordinator for the Governor's Council on Domestic Violence. Once an incident of domestic violence occurs in a home, it will likely happen again, she said.

"It increases in severity and frequency over time," Stuart said. "What happens today will continue and be worse tomorrow."

Stopping domestic violence requires help from everyone. Neighbors and family members need to report it more, police need to make arrests when they can, and prosecutors must take misdemeanor cases to court, Stuart said.

She said prosecutors are overworked, but misdemeanor cases need to be taken to trial so there is some accountability at that level. Prosecutors shouldn't wait until a domestic violence situation becomes a felony.

"We've got to make them accountable at the lower level. We need to report more, arrest more and convict more," Stuart said.

People who commit domestic violence need treatment. "It took a long time to learn, it will take a long time to erase," she said.

There are 16 domestic violence shelter programs in Utah.

For a referral of domestic violence resources call 1-800-897-5465.

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Contributing: Laura Hancock

E-MAIL: preavy@desnews.com