Man gets 36 years in prison in girlfriend’s slaying

A 28-year-old man who lives in Richland County who admitted stabbing his girlfriend to death in 2013, stuffing her body in a Rubbermaid bin and driving it to a McDonald’s restaurant, was sentenced Tuesday to 36 years in prison.

Faasiu Toese pleaded guilty in a Richland County courtroom to killing his live-in girlfirend, Temukisa Enele, 25, of Pago Pago, American Samoa, and was sentenced by state Circuit Judge Robert Hood.

Toese called 911 on Jan. 2, 2013, from a McDonald’s parking lot along Parklane Road to report that a woman had been stabbed.

When deputies arrived at the fast food restaurant on Parklane Road, Toese showed them TEnele’s body in the back seat of his car. She had been stuffed inside a Rubbermaid container.

Enele, 25, who worked at Wal-Mart, had multiple stab wounds.

Law officers identified Toese as Enele’s live-in boyfriend. Toese is Somoan and not a U.S. citizen, according to official records.

The couple lived in a home on the 200 block of Ferrell Drive, in a neighborhood off Two Notch Road, about three miles from the McDonald’s.

Investigators were not sure why Toese drove to the McDonald’s before calling police.

Assistant 5th Circuit Solicitors Nicole Simpson and Kathrun Cavanough prosecuted the case.

Toese was represented by 5th Circuit Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Davis.

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 8:00 PM.