Lawyer withdraws in rubbish skip murder trial
A trial in which three people stand accused of beating a nine-year-old girl to death, throwing her body in a rubbish skip and setting it alight has been postponed until Friday.
The trial was scheduled to start yesterday, with Zimbabwean couple Caroline and Edward Nkata and the deceased’s biological mother, Rachel Kureva, set to plead.
The case was postponed because lawyer Janita von Wielligh withdrew after her client, Kureva, expressed dissatisfaction regarding her services.
Von Wielligh indicated during the last appearance last year that they were ready to start the trial.
Judge Philanda Christiaan adjourned the case in the Windhoek High Court yesterday. The trial was initially scheduled for 15 to 22 January, as well as 12 to 23 February.
The State claims Edward Nkata fatally assaulted the late Akundaishe Natalie Chipomho in January 2020 and that Caroline and Kureva helped him throw her body into a rubbish skip in Windhoek North and set its contents on fire.
Cases consolidated
Kureva was a co-accused in the case during the first few appearances in the Magistrate's Court in Windhoek, but the prosecutor-general decided not to prosecute her as there was too little evidence against her.
She was, however, subsequently arrested again after Edward's 14-year-old son gave a statement to the police that implicated her in the murder.
She was charged separately, but an application to consolidate the two cases was brought last year so that Kureva could be heard alongside Edward and Caroline.
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The trial was scheduled to start yesterday, with Zimbabwean couple Caroline and Edward Nkata and the deceased’s biological mother, Rachel Kureva, set to plead.
The case was postponed because lawyer Janita von Wielligh withdrew after her client, Kureva, expressed dissatisfaction regarding her services.
Von Wielligh indicated during the last appearance last year that they were ready to start the trial.
Judge Philanda Christiaan adjourned the case in the Windhoek High Court yesterday. The trial was initially scheduled for 15 to 22 January, as well as 12 to 23 February.
The State claims Edward Nkata fatally assaulted the late Akundaishe Natalie Chipomho in January 2020 and that Caroline and Kureva helped him throw her body into a rubbish skip in Windhoek North and set its contents on fire.
Cases consolidated
Kureva was a co-accused in the case during the first few appearances in the Magistrate's Court in Windhoek, but the prosecutor-general decided not to prosecute her as there was too little evidence against her.
She was, however, subsequently arrested again after Edward's 14-year-old son gave a statement to the police that implicated her in the murder.
She was charged separately, but an application to consolidate the two cases was brought last year so that Kureva could be heard alongside Edward and Caroline.
– [email protected]
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