Axe murderer Kapepu gets 28 years
A 44-year-old man who last month admitted hacking his girlfriend to death with an axe in the Tsaraxa-Aibes informal settlement of Otjiwarongo two years ago, has been sent to prison for 28 years.
Israel Kapepu was sentenced by High Court Judge Naomi Shivute on a charge of murder with the direct intention to kill.
Shivute said it was a heinous crime.
Christine Gases was assaulted with the back of an axe on the head, which is the vulnerable part of the body.
“The deceased died a cruel death at the hands of her boyfriend,” said Shivute as she handed down the sentence.
Kapepu's State-funded defence lawyer, Mese Tjituri, wanted a sentence of about 20 years, while State Advocate Martino Olivier asked for a custodial sentence of between 30 and 40 years.
Kapepu, at the start of his trial on 16 May 2017, admitted killing the 28-year-old Gases.
He earned a living as a welder in Otjiwarongo and is a first offender with no record of previous convictions.
Kapepu has a three-year-old daughter with Gases.
Evidence presented during trial shows that the incident occurred when Kapepu and Gases returned to her shack from a shebeen on 28 February 2015 at about 15:00.
A quarrel broke out after Gases wanted to go back to the shebeen but Kapepu wanted her to prepare food for him.
He got an axe from behind the shack and struck Gases on the head three times.
She died immediately.
Kapepu will serve his sentence at the Windhoek Central Correctional Facility.
NAMPA
Israel Kapepu was sentenced by High Court Judge Naomi Shivute on a charge of murder with the direct intention to kill.
Shivute said it was a heinous crime.
Christine Gases was assaulted with the back of an axe on the head, which is the vulnerable part of the body.
“The deceased died a cruel death at the hands of her boyfriend,” said Shivute as she handed down the sentence.
Kapepu's State-funded defence lawyer, Mese Tjituri, wanted a sentence of about 20 years, while State Advocate Martino Olivier asked for a custodial sentence of between 30 and 40 years.
Kapepu, at the start of his trial on 16 May 2017, admitted killing the 28-year-old Gases.
He earned a living as a welder in Otjiwarongo and is a first offender with no record of previous convictions.
Kapepu has a three-year-old daughter with Gases.
Evidence presented during trial shows that the incident occurred when Kapepu and Gases returned to her shack from a shebeen on 28 February 2015 at about 15:00.
A quarrel broke out after Gases wanted to go back to the shebeen but Kapepu wanted her to prepare food for him.
He got an axe from behind the shack and struck Gases on the head three times.
She died immediately.
Kapepu will serve his sentence at the Windhoek Central Correctional Facility.
NAMPA
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