Esarona David Lologa is the man convicted of murdering five people by lighting the fatal Loafers Lodge fire in 2023, it can now be revealed.
The 50-year-old's name had been suppressed until now.
Lologa pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but the jury ultimately decided he knew setting the Wellington hostel alight was morally wrong.
RNZ's Lauren Crimp pieced together his background from evidence given during the five-week trial at the High Court in Wellington.
Who is Esarona Lologa?
Esarona Lologa - also known as Esa - was born in Wellington in 1975, but was raised by his grandmother and uncle in a small village near Apia, Samoa.
He was initially educated in Samoa but moved to Wellington when he was about 13, where he lived with his uncle. He attended high school in Lower Hutt.
Esarona David Lologa was found guilty. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Psychiatrist Dr Krishna Pillai said Lologa told him he was not academic and was more interested in sport and music, particularly playing the guitar.
Failelei Lologa, who described Esarona Lologa as her adoptive brother, grew up with him in Samoa and gave evidence during the trial.
She told the court that at that time Lologa was "respectful, quiet and likeable". But that changed when their grandmother died in 1993, she said. Esarona Lologa was about 16 or 17 at the time.
"Around about the time when our grandma passed away he was hardly at home, and he was always running away," Failelei Lologa said.
Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii
She barely heard from him after that, she said.
As a young man, Lologa had a relationship with a woman almost 20 years his senior, who had a teenage son.
In 2009 Lologa was convicted of attempting to murder the son with a machete, after he believed his partner was cheating on him.
He first came to the attention of mental health services in 1999, when he was 24. He was hearing voices in his head that were swearing at him.
"He believed it was a friend who was talking about him, and as a result he assaulted that friend," said Pillai.
Lologa was diagnosed as having schizophrenia, and was first admitted to a mental health facility in 2000.
Loafers Lodge in 2023, after the blaze. Photo: RNZ / Hamish Cardwell
His cousin, Solomona Seala, said they grew up together but fell out of touch when they got older.
Before rekindling a relationship in 2021, Seala had last seen Lologa in 2002, and realised then his cousin was not the same person he once knew.
"We never spoke, he saw me but didn't... acknowledge that I was there," he told the court.
The court heard details about Lologa's clinical history spanning more than two decades, including nine hospital admissions.
Most recently, he fled an Auckland hospital while on unescorted leave, and lit the fatal blaze just over three weeks later.
Lologa had 50 previous convictions - including the attempted murder and an attempted arson in 1996, after he broke into a butcher and tried to burn it down.
He had also been found guilty of common assault and fraud.
During adulthood, Lologa lived in Wellington and Auckland. He stayed in social housing and boarding houses, as well as his car and the street, psychiatrists told the court.
He worked on and off and did not have a lot of money. He told psychiatrists he would wander the streets, looking for food and cigarette butts.
'Fire is scary'
Psychiatrist Dr Justin Barry-Walsh also detailed some of Lologa's history with fire.
Lologa told Barry-Walsh from about age seven, while living in Samoa, he was responsible for making the fire for cooking outside.
On one occasion he left the fire and returned to find a nearby shed burnt down. He was worried about being punished, Barry-Walsh said.
"When asked what he learned from this, Lologa said 'fire is scary'," he said.
Lologa liked to light fires for fun, using plastic bags. He was also responsible for burning the rubbish, which he liked doing.
Lologa also told Barry-Walsh he lit fires for umu on special occasions like weddings and Christmas.
Lologa was due to be sentenced on 21 November.
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