Police in Simbu have arrested seven suspects in relation to the wilful murder of Dr. Robert Waiye in Kundiawa.
Simbu Provincial Police Commander Detective Superintendent Mazuc Rubiang confirmed the arrests, saying the suspects are in custody and investigations remain active to track down others still at large. Formal charges will be laid, including against a security guard involved.
Police allege that on Tuesday 15 September 2026, Dr. Waiye and Dr. Ronald Conn, both medical doctors at Kundiawa General Hospital, were at Gateway Fuelers pokies house.
At around 5pm Dr. Conn went to play pokies after work. Between 10pm and 11pm, he met Dr. Waiye and they waited for transport back to the doctors’ on-call house at the hospital.After failing to get transport, they sought help from the owners of Gateway Fuelers, a couple known to them. They approached the security guard and were allowed into the residential premises after identifying themselves as doctors.
The wife of the owner instructed them to return to the fuel station and questioned the guard for letting them in. At that time, a group drinking at a nearby building under construction confronted the guard, assaulted him, then went searching for the doctors.
Dr. Conn escaped, but Dr. Waiye was apprehended, dragged back into the premises and severely assaulted. Both the doctor and the guard were stripped and left on the ground, then placed on a dump truck.The owner instructed the group to take them to Kundiawa Police Station and have them locked up for alleged “OBT” or Operation Brukim Tulait. Duty police refused due to serious head and facial injuries and ordered them taken to Kundiawa General Hospital.
Dr. Waiye died at 8:30am on Wednesday 16 September. The security guard remains in the surgical ward recovering.
