Americans’ appeal delayed again

Applications for leave to appeal by two American men – convicted of the 2011 murder of André Heckmair - were postponed until March in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.Kevan Townsend and Marcus Thomas were sentenced to 29 and 30 years in prison respectively last October. Both men want to appeal against their sentencing and conviction, but they must first be granted an application for leave to do so.Townsend and Thomas appeared in court in November for their applications, but the case was postponed until yesterday because Thomas&#039; legal representative, Salomon Kanyemba, withdrew from the case.The proceedings could not continue yesterday either because Thomas&#039; new private attorney was not present."We already transferred the funds from the United States of America in November last year," Thomas told the court.Delaying the matterAfter a quick adjournment, Townsend&#039;s legal representative, Mbanga Siyomuinji, called the lawyer Thomas claimed should be representing him.In the presence of correctional services personnel, he gave Thomas the phone to speak directly to the attorney.Thomas informed the court that the lawyer had confirmed that he had received the funds, but that he did not yet have access to them and therefore would not go on record yet."I don&#039;t understand it either," Thomas told Judge David Munsu after Munsu tried to clear up confusion about the issue.Munsu then adjourned the case until 12 March for Thomas to sort out his representation."Please clear up this issue because you are delaying the matter," the judge warned him.Advocate Antonia Verhoef is the state prosecutor in the case.– kristien@republikein.com.na

Americans’ appeal delayed again

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-17

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Americans’ appeal delayed again

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-17

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