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SALT LAKE CITY — A man was arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting a woman in a Salt Lake City neighborhood nearly three years ago. On Tuesday, Oakland Alope Taoipu Faamoe, 31, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of murder, a first-degree felony, obstruction of justice, second-degree felony, and felony discharge of a firearm, a second-degree felony, according to the police affidavit. On the morning of Jan. 23, 2022, Salt Lake City police officers responded to a shooting that happened in the area of 130 S. 800 West. When officers arrived, they found 50-year-old Anetupou Niualiku with gunshot wounds, according to the affidavit. Niualiku was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses who were standing next to Faamoe during the shooting told officers that a white passenger car drove by and fired a gun in their direction. After receiving security footage, police believed the car was a 2011-2013 white Hyundai Sonata. On March 18, SLCPD released a photo of the Hyundai to help with the homicide investigation.According to the affidavit, a witness came forward to SLCPD and named Faamoe as a possible suspect in the killing of Niualiku. The witness told police that another man who was with Faamoe during the shooting confessed to the witness that Faamoe was the person who shot and killed Niualiku. According to the affidavit, the witness told police details that were not released to the public and were consistent with the investigation. Investigators learned that Faamoe was driving a white Hyundai seven days before the shooting, as he was given a traffic citation. The car was registered to a family member of Faamoe and was repossessed in February 2023. According to the affidavit, the company that repossessed the Hyundai "scrapped" it, but had several photos of it. The images showed the Hyundai had several "unique characteristics" similar to the car in the security footage. Phone records obtained by police show that Faamoe and the other man were in the area when Niualiku was fatally shot. The affidavit stated that the firearm involved in the shooting has not been found. Police did not identify the second man involved in the shooting.
Today, detectives with our Homicide Squad, with the assistance of our SWAT Team, have safely arrested a suspect in connection with the 2022 shooting death of 42-year-old Anetupou Niualiku. Link: https://t.co/6JhvG39TGp#SLC#SLCPD#SaltLakeCitypic.twitter.com/k0tMYTcMJq — Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) April 9, 2025
According to court documents, Faamoe was charged with second-degree felony theft by receiving a stolen handgun in 2024. This charge was connected to the 2023 raid of the New Yorker nightclub. Documents stated that Faamoe admitted to police that another family member gave him a Tarus 9mm handgun, and he knew it was stolen. On Jan. 6, Faamoe accepted a deal holding his guilty plea in abeyance for three years and was placed on probation.
